FBI investigating Anaheim mayor
Improprieties alleged, search warrants served over Angel Stadium deal
Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu is under federal investigation in connection with the city's sale of Angel Stadium, according to information released Monday.
An affidavit filed in federal court Thursday says authorities are 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.”
Documents including the affidavit in support of several search warrants were made public by the city Monday and confirmed by an FBI spokesman.
The warrants and affidavit came to light Monday when state Attorney General Rob Bonta's office requested that an Orange County Superior Court judge put on hold an agreement between the city and the state that was intended to settle a dispute over whether Anaheim broke an affordable housing law with the stadium sale deal.
Bonta's office became aware Friday of the federal warrant that “sets forth serious allegations of unlawful conduct” related to the stadium sale, according to the court filing seeking to stay the agreement with the city.
“These allegations call into question not only the validity of the land sale, but of the Stipulation for Entry of Judgment that is currently pending before this court,” Bonta's filing said. FBI spokesman Thom Mrozek said Monday that multiple warrants were granted and executed Thursday that allowed searches of Sidhu's email accounts and cellphone, as well as a hangar at the Chino Airport and a helicopter Sidhu owns that was kept there.
Sidhu could not be immediately reached for comment, and attorney Paul Meyer, who is representing Sidhu, said late Monday that it would be “premature” to comment on the allegations.
The deal to sell the city-owned stadium to SRB Management, Angels owner Arte Moreno's business partnership, for $320 million has been under scrutiny since it was proposed.
Some critics have argued the sale price was lowballed. A residents' group filed an ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit that argued the city broke state open meetings law in crafting and approving the deal — the affidavit said Sidhu's alleged withholding of information may have influenced the outcome of the residents' lawsuit. And, state housing officials in December told the city it violated an affordable housing law.
City leaders have repeatedly denied these allegations and have said the city's actions were lawful and in the best interest of Anaheim residents. To settle the dispute whether Anaheim broke an affordable housing law, the two sides agreed in April to the stipulated judgment that requires the city to spend $96 million of the proceeds from the stadium sale to build up to 1,000 affordable units off-site within five years.
“We are troubled by this,” Anaheim City Manager Jim Vanderpool said Monday in a statement. “Throughout this process, Anaheim staff and the City Council have worked in good faith on a proposal that offered benefits for our community.
“What has been shared with us was unknown to the city administration before today, and what is being described falls outside of the city's process on the stadium,” he said. “We will continue to evaluate what this means and how to move forward in the best interest of our city.”
City spokesman Mike Lyster said Anaheim leaders will be watching as “this process plays out. We will determine what this means for the stadium plan in the days ahead.”
The investigation has been underway since at least 2019, according to the affidavit. The FBI's affidavit seeking the warrants alleges Sidhu engaged in a variety of potentially criminal conduct, including:
Sharing confidential information with Angels
Baseball while the city was negotiating the stadium deal, “with the expectation of receiving a sizable contribution to his reelection campaign from a prominent Angels representative.”
• Concealing information from the Orange County grand jury and possibly destroying evidence, including deleting text messages and emails.
• Instructing a witness who was cooperating with the FBI investigation to lie to the OC grand jury.
• Fraudulently registering a helicopter he was purchasing to an Arizona address to avoid paying nearly $16,000 in California sales taxes.
Two cooperating witnesses, one of whom is described as an employee of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, provided information to the FBI, and the chamber employee wore a wire during several conversations with Sidhu, the affidavit said.
In those conversations, Sidhu allegedly expressed an expectation of campaign contributions of at least $1 million from an unnamed Angels representative, the affidavit said.
A spokeswoman for Angels Baseball and SRB Management could not immediately be reached for comment late Monday. Anaheim Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Laura Cunningham said in an email responding to a request for comment: “The chamber as an organization has no involvement in the allegations being reported.”