The co-owner of a towing business was named in a federal grand jury indictment returned Feb. 26 that charges him with allegedly paying a bribe to a member of the Huntington Park City Council, California, in an attempt to obtain support for a proposed fee increase for towing and vehicle storage.
Sukhbir Singh, 39, and his company, H.P. Automotive & Tow, Inc., were charged in a two-count indictment that accuses Singh and his company of paying a bribe “to influence and reward” the city council member in relation to official action related to a proposed contract to increase rates to tow and store vehicles in Huntington Park.
The indictment said the city councilman was a “cooperating witness,” meaning s/he was working with the FBI when Singh allegedly paid the bribe. The council member’s name was not revealed by authorities.
Singh was also charged with making false statements to the FBI in October when he falsely stated that he had never discussed the proposed tow fee increase with the councilmember and that he had not discussed how payments could be made so as to disguise the source of the money.
According to a criminal complaint previously filed in this case, Singh gave a total of $2,650 in checks to the city councilmember between August 2013 and March 2015, although the affidavit in support of the complaint notes that two checks totaling $800 were rejected for insufficient funds and because a signature was illegible.
“By seeking to influence a city council vote through bribes, this defendant perverted the democratic process,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker, according to an official press release. “The public deserves to be confident that its elected officials are making decisions in the best interests of the people they serve,” he said.
“City residents deserve honest government and should not tolerate it when bribe payments dictate how their town is run,” said David Bowdich, the assistant director in Charge of the FBI’s Field Office. “We encourage anyone with knowledge of bribes being paid or being proffered to contact the FBI to report the allegations confidentially.”
The bribery scheme followed an August 19, 2013 meeting in which the City Council voted 3-2 to deny a request by H.P. Tow to increase towing and vehicle storage fees. Ten days later, Singh met with the FBI cooperating witness in the first of a series of meetings that included discussions of Singh and H.P. Tow making campaign contributions to the city councilmember, according to the affidavit, which alleged that Singh offered to make the bribe payments through third-party checks to a campaign account.
The Huntington Park City Council approved the fee increases for H.P. Tow in January in a vote in which the cooperating witness did not participate.
Singh and H.P Tow will be summoned to appear for an arraignment on the indictment next month.
The bribery count in the indictment carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for Singh. If convicted, the company could be ordered to pay a fine as high as $250,000. The false statement charge in the indictment carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.
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