OC Business Journal

Irvine officials were targeted in bribery scheme, Feds say

In wasn’t just Anaheim caught up in the dragnet. The 102-page federal complaint against Ament alleges that in 2018 a political consultant had come up with a scheme “with the intention of paying bribes to two elected members of the Irvine City Council in exchange for the Council Members performing official acts, resulting in the passage of favorable cannabis laws.”

Democratic leader and cannabis consultant Melahat Rafiei last week said she was that unnamed consultant, and was one of the FBI’s cooperating witnesses in the multiyear case involving corruption in Anaheim.

She denies the federal allegations about the Irvine case, and notes that the charges have been dismissed.

The FBI didn’t disclose whether the Irvine plan moved beyond the planning phase, and didn’t say who the targeted city council members were.

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2022-05-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://ocbusinessjournal.pressreader.com/article/281702618325098

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