Council Stiffens Penalties on Campaign Money Laundering
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People convicted of laundering campaign contributions will be barred from doing business with the city of Los Angeles for up to four years, according to a new law passed unanimously by the City Council.
The new ordinance stiffens penalties by adding a prohibition on lobbying or holding city contracts to the current punishment, which simply requires a payment of fines.
Since its establishment in 1990, the Ethics Commission has found seven political donors guilty of laundering contributions, and they have been fined up to $447,5000. Yet the two biggest offenders--Evergreen America Corp. and Los Angeles Marathon Inc.--continued doing business with city government. Marathon officials actually negotiated a new contract that offset its $200,000 ethics fine.
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