By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Los Angeles city councilman was arrested on racketeering charges on Tuesday, with prosecutors saying he ran his office as a “money-making criminal enterprise,” taking $1.5 million in bribes from Chinese real estate developers and others in exchange for political influence.
Jose Huizar, 51, a Democrat whose district includes downtown Los Angeles, was taken into custody without incident at his home in the city’s Boyle Heights neighborhood, federal prosecutors said.
“This case pulled back the curtain on rampant corruption at City Hall,” U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said in a statement. “Councilman Huizar violated the public trust to a staggering degree, allegedly soliciting and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from multiple sources over many years.”
Representatives for the councilman, who was first elected in 2005, could not be reached for comment at his city offices.
Huizar’s arrest caps a lengthy investigation into corruption in Los Angeles city politics that dates at least to November 2018, when FBI agents raided Huizar’s home. Prosecutors said that search turned up $129,000 hidden in a closet.
Four other defendants have agreed to plead guilty in the high-profile case in exchange for their cooperation, including George Esparza, a former top aide to the councilman.
Council president Nury Martinez said in a statement posted on Twitter on Tuesday said she would immediately begin the process of removing Huizar from the $200,000-per-year office.
“That is our duty and we must do it,” Martinez said in the statement.
Among the accusations against Huizar spelled out in court documents are that in 2014 he accepted $600,000 from representatives of a Chinese billionaire, identified only as “Chairman E”, that he used settle a lawsuit from a former staffer claiming sexual harassment.
In another instance Huizar accepted a $500,000 bribe from an individual identified only as “Developer C” to resolve a dispute with a labor organization holding up a project.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by David Gregorio)
