Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu under FBI probe
THE Mayor of Anaheim, California Harry Sidhu is facing mounting pressure from City Council members to resign due to an ongoing federal probe in a corruption case.
The Indian American Republican is accused of soliciting $1m in campaign contributions from a representative of the Angels Stadium in exchange for performing official acts that would finalize the stadium sale, reports said. He is not charged in the case.
Elected as mayor in 2018 Sidhu is up for re-election in November.
Reports, citing an affidavit filed by the FBI in federal court on May 12 said it is investigating whether Sidhu ‘shared privileged and confidential information with the Angels during stadium sale negotiations, actively concealed same from a Grand Jury inquiry, and expects to receive campaign contributions as a result.’
Elaborating on the FBI affidavit, reports said that it describes ‘Sidhu securing a spot on the stadium negotiating team and then communicating confidential information to the Angels via a Chamber of Commerce intermediary. The report adds that Sidhu ‘repeatedly’ talks about ‘how he expected the Angels to furnish half a million dollars in campaign cash in exchange for a stadium deal.’
The mayor ‘allegedly sought to conceal those communications,’ reports said, adding that the affidavit alleges ‘Sidhu registered a helicopter in Arizona to avoid a roughly $15,000 California sales tax hit.’
Calls for Sidhu to resign gained momentum on May 18 when he didn’t attend a board meeting held the previous evening, where Councilman Avelino Valencia publicly called for the mayor’s resignation.
After an extensive engineering career, Sidhu pursued his dream of starting his own small business, which began with a single restaurant. He is now a successful entrepreneur and owner of several Orange County restaurants.
Born and raised in India, Sidhu came to the United States in 1974 with his family, settling in Philadelphia.