THE MAYOR UNDER FIRE : Far East Affair : A Quick Bank Visit in 1987 Produced Unwanted Interest

Sometime around Christmas of 1987, Mayor Tom Bradley traveled the few blocks from his City Hall office to the new headquarters of Far East National Bank in Chinatown. He only spent 15 or 20 minutes there, chatting with bank Chairman Henry Hwang, meeting a few staff members and looking over the new building.

But events set in motion by that brief visit ultimately would resound throughout City Hall, lead to a host of criminal investigations and tarnish the mayor’s reputation more seriously than anything he encountered in nearly 50 years of public life.

On Wednesday, City Atty. James K. Hahn concluded that the part-time job offer Bradley accepted from Hwang in December, 1987, led directly to “damaging” circumstantial evidence that Far East ultimately benefited financially from the mayor’s influence.

No Direct Proof

However, Hahn said, the evidence is not strong enough to directly prove that Bradley intentionally caused $2 million in city funds to be deposited with Far East last March.

In more than 1,600 pages of reports and exhibits released by Hahn on Wednesday at the end of his six-month investigation of potential conflicts of interest by Bradley, it is the mayor’s relationship to Far East--and the subsequent impact on the city treasurer’s office--that makes up the bulk of the document.

Notable in the lengthy excerpts from statements and evidence gathered by investigators are contradictions in testimony between Bradley and Hwang over what the mayor was expected to do to earn his fee:

* Bradley repeatedly said he was paid an $18,000 fee by Far East in 1988 to advise the bank on foreign investments.

* Hwang, according to his testimony and letters he sent to Bradley, hired the mayor to help the bank get business from major local corporations and the city. Bradley said he has no recollection of reading those letters.

* Hwang said he sent one of the letters, in January, 1988, specifically at Bradley’s request. The mayor denied that.

In a May 17 interview with investigators, Hwang said: “We hoped he (Bradley) can open some doors for us with some . . . major corporation: People that he might know that we are not able to get on because we’re a very, very small bank.

“That’s really what we would like him to do, especially with large corporations in the area . . . get to meet the CEO. . . . Otherwise you have to knock on the door. They don’t see you.”

Hwang told investigators that in late December, 1987, or early January, 1988, he asked the mayor, whom he described as “an old friend,” if he would like to work for the bank.

‘Open Some Doors for Us’

“I asked him if he would be interested to help us, our bank. To open some doors for us,” Hwang said he asked the mayor.

In a Jan. 13, 1988, letter quoted in the report, Hwang spelled out for Bradley exactly what he needed, including deposit referrals, “especially large companies . . . in L.A. area.”

Other areas where Bradley could help included loan syndications, municipal bond issuance, Pacific Rim trade and other finance projects, Hwang wrote in the letter. In each case, Hwang mentioned how major local corporate or city business would be useful.

Bradley, who said Hwang merely was a longtime acquaintance, repeatedly told investigators that he was hired to help with foreign interests. He said he only advised Hwang about a couple of upcoming trade shows, which were also announced to the public.

‘Disappointed’ in Performance

On one issue, the two appeared to agree--that Bradley did not do enough for the bank to continue earning his fee. Hwang said he ended the relationship in December, 1988, because he was “disappointed” in Bradley’s performance.

In other key areas of the report, Bradley, who talked to investigators voluntarily and was not under oath, said he never checked with Hwang or the city to determine if Far East had city deposits before accepting the post.

That conflicts with a statement in July by Deputy Mayor Mike Gage, who said Bradley had checked with Hwang and was told no city money was on deposit at the time he accepted the post as adviser, which was true at the time.

However, the bank had had deposits both before and after Bradley went to work. “Perhaps I should have asked if they were going to (seek deposits),” Gage said the mayor told him this March when his Far East employment started to become a public issue.

Money Returned

Bradley returned the $18,000 in March, saying in a letter to Hwang that, had he known there were city deposits in the bank, he never would have accepted the post.

But in his testimony, Bradley said he gave the money back for political reasons “to clear the air, to try to remove any possible cloud that might be raised” during Bradley’s reelection campaign.

Bradley said he learned from City Treasurer Leonard Rittenberg on March 22, 1989, that Far East had city deposits.