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February 26, 2024, 2:42 p.m.
Editor’s note: The LA District Attorney sent out a press release concerning Huntington Park one hour after this story published corroborating LCCN’s information from sources.
The FBI raided Huntington Park City Hall and the homes of current and former council members this morning as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe.
Sources told the LA Times that the warrants were served at the homes of HP Mayor Karina Macias and HP Councilmember Eduardo “Eddie” Martinez.
LCCN has exclusively been told by sources the investigation centers around the misuse of public funds related to an indoor swimming pool project at the city’s Salt Lake Park Development.
The same sources say other officials will be involved including Efren Martinez, who ran for Assembly in 2024; former Huntington Park Mayor Graciela Ortiz; Cesar Roldan, former HP Director of Public Works and Assistant City Manager of HP, now Montebello City Manager Raul Alvarez.
The CSULA’s University Times reported in March 2021 that the park project, which had been in the works for a few years, came under fire in 2020 because a contractor was allegedly chosen without competitive bidding procedures required by state law.
The park contract was originally awarded to J.T. Construction on August 6, 2019, during the city council meeting. The city said that it had filed a “notice of exemption” to Los Angeles County on July 5, 2018, because it considered the project a “minor alteration” to the land, among other reasons.
The city backtracked during a city council meeting on December 1, 2020, when it decided to competitively bid the contract.
Cover up
Just one month later, nearly the entire Huntington Park Finance Department was placed on administrative leave, and one staffer was arrested for an investigation into a “records breach.”
A statement issued by the city read, “Officials became aware of a large-scale security breach of electronic financial records at Huntington Park City Hall” that was “intercepted and contained” by the city’s information technology division. The Huntington Park Police Department initiated a criminal investigation, according to the statement.
Budget analyst Teresa Garcia was arrested on suspicion of unauthorized computer access and identity theft, according to a summary of the charges in a complaint she filed with the city contesting the allegations.
Garcia’s lawyer said she and others placed on leave did nothing wrong. She alleged that the Finance Department staffers were being targeted because they blew the whistle on an attempted cover-up of suspicious bank transfers and city contracts awarded to companies with political ties.
Mayor Graciela Ortiz, who was mayor at the time, called it “a serious breach of confidential data.”
Garcia filed a claim at the time that could be the basis of today’s raid. The claim said she began downloading financial records to a hard drive in 2019 when she became “concerned that City Officials may be mishandling public funds and that the City’s contracts may be given out to certain companies due to their political ties rather than the City following its procedure.”
“Concerned about being implicated in corruption in the City, Garcia continued saving her work and accounting materials to a backup drive,” the claim said.
Press release from the L.A. D.A.
The case is being investigated by LADA’s Bureau of Investigation and reviewed by the Office’s Public Integrity Division
HUNTINGTON PARK, CA — District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced today that members of his Bureau of Investigation executed search warrants at 11 locations in connection with an ongoing public corruption probe, “Operation Dirty Pond.”
This investigation began in November 2022 and focuses on the potential misuse of millions of dollars in public funds allocated for the construction of an aquatic center at Salt Lake Park in the City of Huntington Park.
“My office is committed to ensuring that public officials uphold the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and transparency,” District Attorney Hochman said. “When concerns arise about the use of public funds or the actions of those in office, it is our duty to investigate thoroughly and protect the public’s trust.
“I want to commend our dedicated prosecutors and investigators for their diligent work on this complex case. Their unwavering commitment to justice ensures that no one — regardless of their position or title — is above the law.”
Today, the Bureau of Investigation searched the following locations:
Numerous items were seized from each location including public records maintained by the City of Huntington Park, financial paperwork, computers, tablets, cell phones and various forms of electronic equipment. Any member of the public with information related to the aquatic center at Salt Lake Park in Huntington Park is urged to call Sgt. Robert L. Jackson of the District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation at 213-257-2511.
The case is being investigated by LADA’s Bureau of Investigation and reviewed by the Office’s Public Integrity Division.
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