Misuse Of Public Funds

The state's investigation into alleged corruption at the government-run State Compensation Insurance Fund may be widening. On Tuesday, the California Highway Patrol confirmed that its investigators have been asked to join the inquiry into possible misuse of public funds at the $6-billion-a-year workers' compensation insurance company. The investigation comes at the request of fund Chairwoman Jeanne Cain, CHP spokesman Tom Marshall said.

ROME - The Italian Parliament on Wednesday approved anti-corruption legislation aimed at addressing a series of scandals involving graft, extravagant misuse of public funds and rampant cronyism that have outraged the economically distressed nation. The new regulations call for stiffer prison sentences for public officials found guilty of bribe-taking, abuse of office or influence peddling. They also add the crime of corruption between private parties, as well as protective measures for whistle-blowers.

A judge placed former French President Jacques Chirac under formal investigation for suspected misuse of public funds while he was mayor of Paris. Chirac said that he had committed no wrongdoing. Judge Xaviere Simeoni is investigating whether people in Chirac's circle were given sham jobs as advisors, paid by Paris City Hall even though they weren't working for it. Chirac was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995 and president of France from 1995 until May 16.

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.

District attorney investigators searched Bell Gardens City Hall and the El Segundo home of City Clerk Ronald Hart on Wednesday as part of an investigation into the possible misuse of public funds. About two dozen investigators seized computer disks, files and other items after searching the offices of Hart and Councilman Salvador Franco, according to City Hall sources. Hart and Franco were not available for comment.

The Israeli Parliament on Tuesday stripped former Interior Minister Arye Deri of his immunity to criminal prosecution, clearing the way for formal charges of fraud and misuse of public funds to be brought against him. The vote was 65 to 9 with one abstention. Deri resigned from the Cabinet last month but kept his seat in Parliament. His ultra-Orthodox Shas party has all but formally dropped out of the ruling coalition.

A criminal court judge issued arrest warrants today for four executives of Ford Motor Co.'s Venezuelan subsidiary for alleged corruption in the purchase of preferential-rate dollars to buy imports. Judge Luis Guillermo La Riva said the four were company President Cornelius Koreman, Vice President Guido Manuel Cassingena, Controller Alfredo Jose Guadarrama and the former company president, Jose Bissogno Moreno. All were charged with illicit misuse of public funds, a crime punishable by two to 10 years' imprisonment.

No criminal charges will be filed against the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority in alleged misuse of public funds or falsifying documents, officials confirmed Monday. An 18-month investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorney found that as many as seven airport authority members submitted false travel expense reports during the review period of Jan. 1, 1992, to May 31, 1995.

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.

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.

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.

After two years of court battles and about $800,000 in legal costs, city officials declared victory Thursday over local attorney Carlos F. Negrete, who had sued alleging government waste. Orange County Superior Court Judge David C. Velasquez on Wednesday dismissed the last part of Negrete's lawsuit that alleged misuse of government funds involving the city's $1-million purchase of the San Juan Capistrano Decorative Arts Study Center in 1988.

The House Ethics Committee formally charged Rep. Austin J. Murphy (D-Pa.) with six counts of violating House rules involving misuse of public funds and allowing someone else to cast his votes during absences from the House floor. The panel will determine if sanctions should be recommended for House action. The panel also said that it will conduct preliminary probes of Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-N.Y.) and Richard H. Stallings (D-Ida.).

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.