Snyder, Others Reportedly Indicted in Campaign Probe

Former Los Angeles Councilman Arthur Snyder, a fabled and influential City Hall figure for nearly three decades, has been indicted along with several associates for allegedly conspiring to funnel thousands of dollars in illegal campaign funds to local and state politicians, sources close to the case said Thursday.

Reaching a major turning point in a complex, three-year probe by state and local investigators, county prosecutors reportedly have obtained grand jury indictments, which remain sealed, alleging that Snyder and the others participated in a criminal scheme to conceal improper contributions to candidates.

Others named in related indictments, sources said, include Snyder’s wife, Delia Wu Snyder; Gilbert Archuletta, a partner in Snyder’s Downtown law firm, and William Wang, Snyder’s brother-in-law and former Los Angeles manager of a large Taiwan-based shipping firm.

The felony indictments would be the first criminal charges to emerge from a wide-ranging series of investigations by the state Fair Political Practices Commission and the city Ethics Commission, which have exposed allegedly illicit political fund-raising activities in the Los Angeles area.

Snyder, who served for 18 years on the council before stepping down in 1985 and has continued to wield clout as an adroit lobbyist and prodigious fund-raiser, angrily denied the charge late Thursday. “It’s absolutely untrue that I engaged in any kind of conspiracy. Absolutely, categorically, without exception and constraint, I have never ever suggested to anyone that they engage in campaign contributions that are improper.”

He said the felony indictment is “unjustified by the facts” and part of a desperate ploy to get him, after years of investigation produced no evidence that he acted illegally. “I resent them trying to get my scalp on the grounds of something I didn’t do,” Snyder said.

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“You’d think there wasn’t any crime in Los Angeles anymore, (that) there weren’t burglars and robbers running around.”

Snyder’s attorney, Mark Geragos, said the case was “an ill-conceived prosecution (based on) an investigation that has gone awry.” Among other things, he said, the law Snyder allegedly conspired to violate appears unconstitutional and the donations at issue were made too long ago to be the basis of any prosecution.

Archuletta’s attorney, Brian O’Neill, vowed to challenge any prosecution of his client on grounds that it would amount to illegal double jeopardy. Archuletta previously acknowledged in a settlement with the state Fair Political Practices Commission that he had made illegal contributions, and agreed to pay a $16,000 penalty.

“He entered into a complete and comprehensive agreement (that) would resolve all civil and criminal charges against him. If they now charge him criminally, they are violating the agreement.”

Wang’s attorney, Robert Corbin, denied that his client has violated any laws, stressing that Wang had cooperated with investigators. Wang has been involved in numerous charitable activities in Los Angeles and “looks forward to the day he can restore his good name.”

Delia Snyder is in China, according to the former councilman, and has not retained an attorney.

Representatives of Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti declined to comment on the matter Thursday, noting that grand jury proceedings are secret. But knowledgeable sources said the indictments, expected to be unsealed Jan. 18, were handed down after the panel heard testimony by a parade of witnesses over the past several weeks.

The felony charge is the most serious ever brought against Arthur Snyder, 62, who rose from the barrios of Lincoln Heights and has remained a formidable, ubiquitous political player in city government circles despite a long series of controversies and investigations.

A trial in the case could offer a rare inside look at the workings of one of the busier, behind-the-scenes intersections of money and politics in Los Angeles. Like other prominent lobbying operations, Snyder’s 37th-floor Bunker Hill law firm has promoted the interests of developers, cab companies and contractors, while serving as a steady conduit of contributions to lawmakers’ election coffers.

Specifically, the indictments allege that Snyder and his associates conspired to make illegal donations in the names of others--a practice commonly referred to as campaign money laundering. Such donations violate laws designed to ensure disclosure of the true source of a candidate’s financial backing, and circumvent voter-approved contribution limits, such as those in Los Angeles that seek to curb the influence of special interests.

The candidates who received the contributions--ranging from council members and county supervisors to state and federal legislators--apparently did not know of any improprieties. But investigators and ethics experts say money laundering corrupts the political process by bolstering the importance of lobbyists or other special interests who regularly bring in large numbers of campaign checks.

About $1.5 million in civil penalties has been exacted in a series of recent money-laundering cases, involving interests ranging from a prominent Mexican American grocers association to the firm that runs the Los Angeles Marathon.

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But the most intensive investigative effort appears to have centered on a circle of Snyder’s associates, relatives and clients.

In addition to Archuletta, the controller in Snyder’s law firm, Chi May Chen, has previously admitted laundering campaign contributions. So has Bell Cab Co., a Los Angeles firm long represented by Snyder, which has agreed to pay a $45,000 fine to the state.

FPPC Chairman Ben Davidian declined to comment on the indictments. But, as the commission moved to approve the Bell Cab penalty Thursday, he said in a statement: “This case presents just one more chapter in a seemingly endless pattern of deceit and intentional misconduct in Los Angeles politics. . . . It is my hope that our efforts in this case, as well as in our cases against Evergreen America Corp., Gilbert Archuletta and Chi May Chen, have helped expose some of the shortcomings of the Los Angeles political system.”

The huge Taiwan-based Evergreen shipping line, formerly managed locally by Snyder brother-in-law Wang, paid a record-setting $895,000 fine after admitting that its employees had laundered more than $170,000 in political donations to state and local candidates.

Snyder acknowledges that he advised Evergreen and some of his clients on political contributions, but says he always stressed that they be made properly. He blamed “straight laziness” for any improper donations.

Investigators have focused on the fact that Evergreen contributions to city politicians came while Snyder was lobbying for a massive Downtown commercial and residential project called Mangrove Estates, which apparently had links to Evergreen executives.

Evergreen attorney Mark Beck declined to discuss any possible ties, but said the firm is a witness in the case and “has not been and will not be charged criminally by the district attorney.”

Snyder, who no longer represents Mangrove Estates, denied any link between his fund-raising efforts--which he said were legal--and the project.

If convicted of a felony, those charged in indictments could face 16 months or more in state prison.