Restaurateur’s Bribe Offers Taped, Prosecutor Says

Bribery suspect and Newport Beach restaurateur Francis M. Delaney was tape-recorded during “numerous conversations” with a Newport Beach planning commissioner whom Delaney is charged with trying to bribe, a county prosecutor said Tuesday.

During the conversations, Delaney allegedly offered $20,000 to Planning Commission Chairman James C. (Buzz) Person Jr. to gain approval of a construction site for an eventual restaurant, Deputy Dist. Atty. Martin G. Engquist said.

Engquist, however, refused to disclose further details of the tape-recorded conversations, which were made in January when Person consented to wearing a microphone. Engquist said they may be released at Delaney’s preliminary hearing.

The arrest came last week after Engquist filed one count of felony bribery against Delaney, who heads a county-based restaurant and food service corporation.

His arraignment is scheduled for April 1 in Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach.

Bail was originally set at $250,000, but Delaney posted $50,000 bail after it was reduced during a hearing. He was released Friday, said his attorney, Michael J. Khouri.

If convicted, Delaney could be sentenced to up to four years in prison and fined $10,000.

Khouri said, “My client’s feeling is that he’s not guilty to any offense charged.”

In addition, Khouri said Delaney has no financial interest in Lancer’s Landing, a 41,000-square-foot building under construction at 3100 W. Coast Highway in Newport Beach.

Delaney has been charged with bribing Person to win approval to elevate the building, which has been plagued with water leaks since its foundation was built at the waterline next to an inlet of Newport Bay.

Lt. Tim Newman said Delaney told Person he wanted the elevation raised so that customers of a restaurant could have a view of the bay.

But Delaney denied the charge through his attorney.

“Logically there is absolutely no reason why Mr. Delaney would want to have a restaurant in the Lancer’s Landing building,” Khouri said. “Under the current corporate structure and constraints upon expansion of Delaney’s Inc., any new restaurant or transfer is absolutely impossible.”

The investigation is continuing, a Newport Beach police spokesman said, adding that more arrests are possible.