FBI corruption probe into Anaheim 'cabal' - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

An FBI corruption probe revealed who really runs Anaheim. Read our full coverage

Fans enter Angel Stadium
Fans enter Angel Stadium of Anaheim on opening day of the 2014 season prior to the start of the game between the Angels and the Seattle Mariners.
(Jeff Gross / Getty Images)
Share via

Recorded conversations filed in court have thrust the city of Anaheim — best known as home to Disneyland Resort, Major League Baseball’s Angels and the National Hockey League’s Ducks — into the middle of a burgeoning public corruption scandal.

The allegations have imperiled the city’s planned $320-million sale of Angel Stadium to the team, sent shockwaves through Anaheim’s political establishment and provided a rare, unvarnished look at how business is done behind closed doors in the city of 350,000.

In an affidavit supporting a federal search warrant targeting Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu, an FBI agent wrote that Anaheim “was tightly controlled by a small cadre of individuals.” In another affidavit filed in court, the agent alleged that Todd Ament, while head of the city’s chamber of commerce, and a political consultant “defined a specific, covert group of individuals that wielded significant influence over the inner workings of Anaheim’s government.”

Read more
Advertisement