Author Topic: Guilty: The ex-assistant city manager facing 17 years jail for 'corruption on steroids' by approving enormous salaries and nearly bankrupting the city  (Read 778 times)

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Offline flowers

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2521419/Guilty-The-ex-assistant-city-manager-facing-17-years-jail-corruption-steroids-approving-enormous-salaries-nearly-bankrupting-city.html


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This was the moment a former city official was led away in handcuffs as she was found guilty of a string of corruption charges after pushing a neighbourhood to the brink of bankruptcy.

Former Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia brought the Los Angeles suburb of Bell - an area where more than a quarter of residents live below the poverty line - to its knees by approving enormous salaries of fellow officials.

Jurors today found Spaccia guilty of 11 charges including conspiracy, misappropriating public funds, and falsification of public records.

Her in handcuffs is a welcomed site. The rampant corruption in Bell was outragous. I bet John and Ken are all over this one at KFI


Offline truth_seeker

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This was outrageous. It should warn citizens to watch their local government, closely.

This city of 35000 had a city manager arranging to pay himself $ 3/4 million+, and all it required were a few complicit operative like this convicted accomplice, and city council members getting around $100,000 pa.

The city is mainly Hispanic, and lower middle class and below. 

City government books and records SHOULD be reviewed and audited, to determine that frauds like this aren't taking place.

The city manager plead guilty to 69 counts, and got a lesser sentence than this woman. The city council members were convicted.
"God must love the common man, he made so many of them.�  Abe Lincoln

Oceander

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This was outrageous. It should warn citizens to watch their local government, closely.

This city of 35000 had a city manager arranging to pay himself $ 3/4 million+, and all it required were a few complicit operative like this convicted accomplice, and city council members getting around $100,000 pa.

The city is mainly Hispanic, and lower middle class and below. 

City government books and records SHOULD be reviewed and audited, to determine that frauds like this aren't taking place.

The city manager plead guilty to 69 counts, and got a lesser sentence than this woman. The city council members were convicted.

It should be standard operating procedure for the books and records of all governments - federal, state, and local - to be audited by a group of independent auditors.

Offline truth_seeker

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It should be standard operating procedure for the books and records of all governments - federal, state, and local - to be audited by a group of independent auditors.
Most people don't want to spend the time to be useful in this regard. That is what CPAs are for. I imagine CPA firms specialize in municipal accounting and audit.

But it isn't brain surgery. A review of payrolls in the city of Bell would have raised questions. I used to manage a small group of analysts studying budgets, actuals, variance letters, etc.

Sure there are still ways to hide things, but it is much harder when it is being scrutinized.
"God must love the common man, he made so many of them.�  Abe Lincoln

Oceander

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Most people don't want to spend the time to be useful in this regard. That is what CPAs are for. I imagine CPA firms specialize in municipal accounting and audit.

But it isn't brain surgery. A review of payrolls in the city of Bell would have raised questions. I used to manage a small group of analysts studying budgets, actuals, variance letters, etc.

Sure there are still ways to hide things, but it is much harder when it is being scrutinized.

I agree.  That is precisely what CPAs are for and their expertise should be applied to government in the same way it's applied to publicly-traded companies.

Offline truth_seeker

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I agree.  That is precisely what CPAs are for and their expertise should be applied to government in the same way it's applied to publicly-traded companies.
And large companies have "Internal Audit" departments, to do the job for a fraction of what the outside auditors will charge for routine audit functions.

Apparently the City of Bell avoided this for several years. Rizzo, the City Manager, lived in my town.
"God must love the common man, he made so many of them.�  Abe Lincoln

Offline flowers

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And large companies have "Internal Audit" departments, to do the job for a fraction of what the outside auditors will charge for routine audit functions.

Apparently the City of Bell avoided this for several years. Rizzo, the City Manager, lived in my town.
Rizzo, another slime bag. Do you listen to KFI640am?I used to when I lived in cali. They were all over this story.


Offline truth_seeker

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Rizzo, another slime bag. Do you listen to KFI640am?I used to when I lived in cali. They were all over this story.
It has been years in the making. Rizzo, the crooked/clever/convicted city manager, already pleaded guilty and got LESS jail time, than this woman who pleaded not guilty.
"God must love the common man, he made so many of them.�  Abe Lincoln