A deeper dive into FBI raid of Thao’s home, Oakland recycling company’s involvement
(KRON) — Days after Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and her attorney parted ways, the mayor still has yet to finalize an agreement with her new, unnamed attorney. Following the FBI raid of her home, Thao maintained her innocence, as has Cal Waste Solutions, the recycling company that was also raided.
It turns out Cal Waste Solutions has been the subject of a suspected campaign money laundering investigation for several years.
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When the FBI raided Thao’s home last week, that was just one of four locations. The other three included Cal Waste Solutions, which has provided recycling services for the City of Oakland since 1992, and the homes of two members of the Duong family, which owns and manages that company.
Court documents obtained from Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission allege the laundering scheme spans several election cycles and involves the use of multiple straw donors making contributions to several different candidate-controlled committees.
Political analysts say straw donors are often used when an individual or entity seeks to contribute more money to a candidate than legally allowed.
“They essentially find friends, relatives, family members who will write individual checks in their own name and send them in but be reimbursed,” KRON4 political analyst Michael Yaki said.
Court documents suggest Thao is just one of several Oakland politicians to receive these contributions from the straw donors — many of whom the ethics commission alleges didn’t have the funds to make these donations until a large cash deposit was made just before or after writing the check.
“If you have someone who’s gone through the trouble and I mean a lot of money being funneled through different third parties to a single candidate or ballot measure what have you,” Yaki said. “You can make a pretty good assumption that person is trying to get access and influence or sway a decision in their favor.”
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Days after the FBI raid, Thao maintained her innocence, saying she had done nothing wrong. A spokesperson for Cal Waste Solutions also indicated the company did nothing wrong.
While the parties are the same, it’s unknown if the FBI is investigating the same thing as Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission, but if so, political analysts say the FBI’s involvement kicks this to a new level.
“It’s one thing if it’s a campaign finance violation, but where the FBI becomes involved it’s more than just a campaign finance violation,” Yaki said. “There is some nexus to public integrity or public corruption that they’re trying to look for, doesn’t mean that it exists, doesn’t mean that it’s there. But they’re clearly looking for it.”
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