Countywide
A lawsuit seeking more than $177 million in damages from 18 defendants has been filed in federal court by San Diego County in connection with the Telink telephone contract scandal.
The suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in San Diego, includes a request for $10 million in damages to county government’s reputation with its taxpayers and constituents.
The county in January, 1983, canceled a $24-million contract with Santa Ana-based Telink, Inc. for the installation of a telecommunications system after an investigation revealed that bribes --including money, drugs and prostitutes--and kickbacks had influenced the county’s decision to award the contract.
The county’s lawsuit alleges that Burnup & Sims, Telink’s Florida-based parent company, Telink, and others conspired with Larry Gonzales, then county general services director, and communications chief Abraham Stein to persuade the Board of Supervisors to choose Telink to install the telephone system.
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