They turned the city treasury into their own personal cash cow and rode a gravy train of riches all the way to the bank. Now they find themselves behind bars and facing a plethora of criminal charges and civil suits.
8 current and former city officials in Bell, CA, have been arrested and charged with grotesque corruption and misappropriation of public funds, after it was revealed they misused more than $5.5 million dollars of city money. In July, residents discovered that city officials were paying themselves extremely exorbitant salaries, while city services went lacking. Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo, Police Chief Randy Adams and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia resigned after the media reported they were each making several hundred thousand dollars a year each. Mayor Oscar Hernandez, Vice Mayor Teresa Jacobo, council members George Mirabal and Luis Artiga, and former council members George Cole and Victor Bello were also arrested.
“The complaint alleges they used the tax dollars collected from the hard-working citizens of Bell as their own piggy bank, which they looted at will,” District Attorney Steve Cooley said at a news conference. He added, “This is corruption, on steroids!”
Rizzo is charged with 53 counts of misappropriation of public funds and conflict of interest, after being paid nearly $800,000 annually. He also allegedly wrote his own employment contracts that they were never approved by the City Council. Cooley also said that Rizzo, who was hired as Bell’s chief administrative officer in September 1994, gave nearly $1.9 million in unauthorized loans to himself, Spaccia, Artiga, Hernandez and dozens of others. Rizzo is said to be responsible for $4.3 million of the city’s losses.
