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In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
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SoCal developer's offices searched in campaign finance probe
Friday August 22, 2003
LOS ANGELES (AP) Authorities searched Beverly Hills developer
Alan Casden's offices as part of an investigation into possible
city campaign finance law violations in the 2001 mayoral race.
Prosecutors revealed little else about the probe but said
searches were also conducted Thursday in Simi Valley, Granada Hills
and Encino.
Casden, who bid to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team,
has developed thousands of upscale apartments and low-income
housing. Over the past four years, the 57-year-old and his firm
made $213,000 in contributions to benefit city candidates,
according to Ethics Commission records.
Casden could not be reached for comment but his attorney, Ronald
Turovsky, said Casden and the firm would fully cooperate.
``We are certainly aware of no violations,'' Turovsky said.
Records show Casden and his firm, Casden Properties, have in
past years made small contributions to campaigns for Mayor James K.
Hahn, city attorney Rocky Delgadillo and six City Council members.
The firm also contributed $100,000 to the campaign to beat last
year's secession efforts in the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood.
In the 2001 mayoral election, Hahn charged Casden and others had
contributed $100,000 each to the state Democratic Party, which
aided Antonio Villaraigosa's campaign for mayor. Hahn said the
spending circumvented mayoral campaign contribution limits of
$1,000.
But an investigation by the state Fair Political Practices
Commission found no evidence any money was specifically earmarked
for Villaraigosa, said California Democratic Party attorney Lance
Olson. Olson said the current probe does not involve state party
expenditures for Villaraigosa.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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