Misuse Of Public Funds

Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren on Monday cleared opponents of the school voucher initiative of conspiring to break election laws by using public funds to oppose the ballot measure. The attorney general was responding to a complaint brought by supporters of Proposition 174 on the Nov. 2 ballot. They accused opponents of using public school resources in seven counties to send anti-Proposition 174 flyers home with students and to mail material to public school employees.

Former French President Jacques Chirac was found guilty and received a two-year suspended sentence Thursday for misusing public funds and abusing public confidence while mayor of Paris. It is the first time a former French head of state has been convicted since Marshal Philippe Petain, leader of France's wartime Vichy regime, was found guilty of collaborating with the Nazis. The 79-year-old Chirac was not in court to hear the verdict, which came three months after his trial ended.

A political consultant and a former college president were each sentenced in federal court Friday to three years' probation and a $5,000 fine after pleading guilty to misusing public money for a bond measure election. Consultant Larry Remer and former Southwestern College President Serafin Zasueta were also each ordered to pay $2,945.24 restitution to the college and to perform 100 hours of community service.

Prosecutors say they will need months to analyze materials seized in a raid on Oxnard City Hall as they seek evidence related to possible misuse of public funds. In a written statement, Ventura County Dist. Atty. Greg Totten said the investigation does not focus on "inflated salary and pension-spiking concerns" like those in the city of Bell. He declined to give details of the probe, however, saying only that it "involved potential misappropriation of public monies, the handling of contracts involving public works and other city projects, and potential conflicts of interest.

The Stanislaus County district attorney's office has filed a felony charge of misappropriation of public funds against Hughson Mayor Bart Conner for allegedly charging more than $3,000 worth of personal items on a city credit card. Prosecutors filed the charge Tuesday after a monthlong probe sparked by an anonymous tip.

An Education Department manager used thousands of dollars in government money to cover vacation trips to the Caribbean and other personal expenses, and improperly diverted business to a close friend, the state auditor reported Monday. At least $65,000 in direct payments were questioned, although auditors said the estimate is inexact because of missing records. "Payments to cash, the department manager, hotels, airlines etc.

Former Inyo County Sheriff Donald Dorsey has been arrested on charges of embezzling and misappropriating public funds. Dorsey, a past president of the California State Sheriffs Assn., was arrested Thursday at the Del Norte County sheriff's office in Crescent City by an agent of the state Department of Justice. Dorsey, the Del Norte County undersheriff, was put on administrative leave. He was arraigned Thursday in Del Norte Justice Court on three felony counts and released on $10,000 bail.

Former South Gate Treasurer Albert Robles pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he conspired to violate election laws and misuse public funds. Robles, who appeared with a deputy public defender in the downtown Los Angeles criminal courts building, was indicted by a grand jury in July on charges of conspiracy, misappropriation of public funds and unauthorized use of a signature in a campaign advertisement. He faces a possible sentence of seven years in state prison if convicted.

Former Compton Mayor Omar Bradley, sentenced in May to three years in prison for using his city-issued credit card for personal expenses and double-billing taxpayers, is serving his time in a Los Angeles halfway house, officials said Thursday. Self-styled "gangster mayor" Bradley, former City Councilman Amen Rahh and former City Manager John D. Johnson were found guilty in February of misappropriating public funds and making unauthorized loans while in office.

Rifling through a City Hall trash bin in Bradbury, gadfly extraordinaire Robert Penney Jr. dug up more dirt to turn one of Los Angeles County's wealthiest cities on its ear. Only a month after Penney found that county taxpayers were picking up the tab for 24-hour private guards in an affluent enclave of Bradbury, his latest discovery has led to the resignation of the San Gabriel Valley community's longtime city manager.

Discontented Compton residents announced Thursday that they have launched a recall campaign against their mayor and several other elected officials, citing allegations of misappropriation of public funds, nepotism and voter deception. Activists said Mayor Eric J. Perrodin, Councilwoman Lillie Dobson, City Atty. Craig J. Cornwell and City Clerk Alita Godwin have been served notices of intent to circulate a recall petition. "We have been watching and telling people what's going on," said Joyce Kelly, a recall organizer.

The FBI is investigating an affordable-housing deal in which Los Angeles officials channeled $26 million to a development company officer who they knew was under criminal investigation for alleged misuse of public funds, city officials said Thursday. The officer, David Rubin, was indicted last fall in New York for alleged bid rigging and fraud, charges unconnected to the L.A. project. The $26 million went toward construction of a 92-unit apartment building near downtown L.A. for seniors, some of them homeless and disabled.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford agreed Thursday to pay a $74,000 fine to settle an allegation that he breached the state ethics code 37 times by overspending on travel and making personal use of state airplanes and campaign funds. The settlement was detailed in a consent order issued by the State Ethics Commission and signed by the governor. It brings to a close one chapter of Sanford's well-publicized troubles, which began in June when the governor, who was married, traveled to Argentina to visit his lover but told aides he would be hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

A French magistrate Friday ordered former President Jacques Chirac to stand trial on charges of misusing millions of dollars in public funds as mayor of Paris by allegedly paying friends and colleagues for work they did not perform. Magistrate Xaviere Simeoni led the investigation into allegations that Chirac invented job contracts for several friends and colleagues while he was mayor from 1977 to 1995. He is accused of paying them more than $5 million in public-funded salaries.

Los Angeles police are investigating a community activist and convicted felon accused of misusing tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars while serving as chairman of his neighborhood council. The case of James Harris is just one of six involving neighborhood council treasurers or chairmen who are believed to have misspent as much as $250,000 in city money. The investigations have raised questions about the city's financial oversight of the volunteer community groups -- for example, none of the treasurers were subject to credit or background checks.

A former magnet school principal was sentenced to one year in county jail Thursday for using more than $150,000 in school district money for personal use, authorities said. Philip Toyotome, 48, who had been principal of the 32nd Street / USC Visual and Performing Arts Magnet, has already repaid the L.A. Unified School District nearly $178,500, slightly more than he took, according to the L.A. County district attorney's office. An Arcadia resident, Toyotome used a school district credit card to buy barbecue equipment, outdoor lounge chairs and other items, prosecutors said.

A French magistrate Friday ordered former President Jacques Chirac to stand trial on charges of misusing millions of dollars in public funds as mayor of Paris by allegedly paying friends and colleagues for work they did not perform. Magistrate Xaviere Simeoni led the investigation into allegations that Chirac invented job contracts for several friends and colleagues while he was mayor from 1977 to 1995. He is accused of paying them more than $5 million in public-funded salaries.

On the eve of a county grand jury proceeding into possible misuse of public funds by Compton officials, district attorney investigators Wednesday conducted a search of Compton City Hall. Employees said investigators ordered them out of portions of the building while officials looked for documents in a court-authorized search. Deputy Dist. Atty.

The former principal of a magnet school near USC pleaded guilty Friday to misappropriation of public funds for using more than $150,000 in school district money for personal use, some to furnish a vacation home in Hawaii, authorities said.

Federal authorities investigating a nonprofit program run by mayoral candidate and former NBA star Kevin Johnson have suspended its funding after finding possible criminal and financial irregularities, officials announced Thursday. Johnson and his St. Hope Academy have been barred from receiving or spending federal funds for up to a year or until the ongoing investigation is concluded.