ACCUSATION ISSUED AGAINST SAMUEL LEUNG

Pursuant to Los Angeles Administrative Code section 24.26, it has been determined that probable cause exists to believe that Samuel Leung (Leung) committed 444 violations of campaign finance laws by making or causing the making of excess contributions and assumed name contributions to City campaign, officeholder, and independent expenditure committees. Probable cause exists to believe the following facts.

Leung was a real estate developer and the CEO of A&M Properties, Inc. (A&M Properties). In February 2009, A&M Properties filed an application with the Planning Department for a residential real estate project known as Seabreeze, in the Harbor Gateway area of City Council District (CD) 15. At the time of the application, the parcel was zoned for industrial use, and the project required, among other things, a zoning change and a general plan amendment.

The Seabreeze project was initially rejected by the City Planning Commission, but Leung successfully appealed the decision to the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee. The project was ultimately approved by the PLUM Committee and the City Council. Throughout the approval process, Leung, his personal and professional associates, and their family members made contributions totaling more than $300,000 to and in support of multiple individuals, most of whom were involved in the approvals. The individuals included former CD 15 councilmembers Janice Hahn and Joe Buscaino; former PLUM Committee members Gil Cedillo, Mitchell Englander, and Jose Huizar; former mayor Eric Garcetti; and former CD 15 candidates Warren Furutani and Rudy Svorinich. Leung reimbursed or caused the reimbursement of the contributions that his associates and their family members made in their names.

In October 2016, following the publication of a Los Angeles Times article, both the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the Ethics Commission began investigating the political contribution histories of Leung and his associates. The District Attorney filed a criminal complaint against Leung, and Leung pleaded guilty in December 2020 to one felony count of conspiracy to violate the state’s political money laundering laws. As part of the plea agreement, Leung admitted to reimbursing and directing others to reimburse campaign and officeholder contributions over the course of more than six years. In exchange for his plea and no prison time, Leung agreed to a sentence of five years of probation, 500 hours of community service, and a payment to the City in the form of administrative penalties imposed by the Ethics Commission.

City law requires the publication of the attached accusation. A finding of probable cause does not constitute a finding that a violation actually occurred. The members of the Ethics Commission must now select a hearing officer for an administrative hearing. Following the hearing, the commissioners must determine whether the alleged violations occurred and, if so, what penalty should apply. The maximum penalty that the commissioners may levy is the greater of $5,000 per violation or three times the amount of money that was improperly contributed or reported.

A determination regarding whether a violation occurred may only be made by the commissioners. The commissioners and staff may not comment on a pending enforcement matter.