Dear Everyone;
Looks really bad for Ed Jew based on this late breaking news item posted on the SF Chronicle. The other shoe of course is the FBI investigation which is totally separate and could result in federal indictments.
Ron Getty
SF LIbertarian
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/12/BAGP7QE96E3.DTL
DA charges SF Supe Ed Jew with perjury -- lawmaker lied about address, prosecutor claims
Cecilia M. Vega, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
(06-12) 18:24 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris filed perjury charges and obtained an arrest warrant for Supervisor Ed Jew today, saying the freshman lawmaker lied about his residence when he became a candidate for District 4 supervisor last year.
In a written statement, Harris said Jew lied under oath and falsified documents when he claimed in candidacy papers that he lived in a house owned by his father on 28th Avenue in the city's Sunset neighborhood. Jew was elected last November and took office in December.
In all, the district attorney charged Jew with nine felonies, including four counts of perjury and one count of filing a false document.
Harris' office began its investigation into Jew's residency following the May 18 FBI raid on Jew's City Hall office, the Chinatown flower shop he operates, the 28th Avenue home and another residence used by the supervisor in Burlingame.
Neighbors of a Sunset neighborhood house that was searched by FBI agents said the property had been vacant for several years. Billing records for the house at 2450 28th Ave. released by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission show there has been little to no water usage at the property.
"Based on the District Attorney's investigaton, the charges allege that when Mr. Jew filed the papers necessary to run for supervisor he did not reside at 2450 28th Avenue or any other residence in District 4," Harris said in her statement.
She issued an arrest warrant for Jew, who was given the opportunity to surrender himself, according to the statement. Bail is set at $135,000.
Jew could not immediately be reached for comment.
The FBI searches May 18 were carried out as part of a federal corruption investigation into Jew, who is suspected of extorting or soliciting a $40,000 bribe from businessmen facing city permit problems.
Jew has acknowledged accepting a $40,000 cash payment from the businessmen on the evening of May 4, but said it was completely innocent transaction.
The supervisor claimed to have been approached earlier this year by the businessmen -- franchisees for Quickly tapioca drink shops -- who he said sought his help obtaining permits they needed to continue operating in the Sunset neighborhood he represents.
Jew said he later agreed to accept the $40,000 payment -- at a meeting that occurred at his Chinatown flowershop -- because he believed it was owed to a political consultant, Robert Chan, to whom he had referred the businessmen.
Jew said he had a separate agreement with Chan that half the fee the consultant was going to receive would be donated to a park development project in the Sunset.
However, a represenative for the shop owners has said that it was Jew who first approached the franchisees. The Quickly representative, who spoke on condition he not be named, said Jew told the businessmen they were going to have permit problems and it would cost money to make the problems disapper.
Sources familiar with the federal investigation say the businessmen then approached the FBI, which supplied them the money to then pay Jew as part of an effort gather evidence in the case.
Jew has not been charged with a crime by federal authorities.
Harris told The Chronicle that the state criminal charges she filed today are meant not just to hold Jew accountable but to protect the integrity of electoral process in San Francisco.
"When San Franciscans go to cast their vote for the candidate of their choice," she said, "they should not have to question the eligibility of their candidate to hold office."
E-mail Cecilia Vega at cvega@....