Gardena Firm Fined for Laundering Contributions

The state Fair Political Practices Commission has imposed a $20,000 fine against a Gardena aircraft parts distributor for laundering contributions to the unsuccessful 1987 Los Angeles City Council campaign of Kenneth Orduna, an aide to Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton).

The company, F.E.A. Logistics Support Corp., acknowledged giving $5,000 to Orduna’s campaign and specifying 10 employees in whose names the contributions could be reported on required public disclosure forms, according to exhibits accompanying an agreement reached last week between the firm and the FPPC.

The exhibits characterized the hiding of the source of the contributions to Orduna as a laundering activity that “was a serious and intentional violation of the (state’s) Political Reform Act.”

The exhibits added that because the “true source of the $5,000 in contributions was not disclosed, the electorate was misinformed” about the identity of the candidate’s supporters, the exhibits said.

Further, the agency maintained in the exhibits that the money was reported as coming from F.E.A. Logistics workers to avoid a Los Angeles ordinance that restricts campaign contributions from a single source to $500. The matter was referred to the state agency in 1988 by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.

Sandra Michioku, a commission spokeswoman, said F.E.A. Logistics has paid the fine, the $2,000 maximum for each of 10 alleged violations.

Michioku also said the agency has a separate inquiry pending against Orduna, but she declined to detail it.

Orduna was an unsuccessful candidate in the April, 1987, election for the Los Angeles City Council’s 10th District seat eventually won by Nate Holden. The district centers on the Crenshaw area and extends west into parts of Fairfax, Palms and Beverlywood.

Orduna could not be reached for comment.

Orduna’s campaign received F.E.A. Logistics’ $5,000 contribution in October, 1986, when the firm also supplied a list of 10 employees “in whose names portions of the contribution could be disclosed,” according to the commission exhibits.

Edward T. Nagatoshi, an attorney for F.E.A. Logistics, denied that the contribution was an intentional violation of the law. He maintained that the company’s chief financial officer, Morio Akiba, “is just not versed in the rules and regulations of politics” and “had no malice” when he gave the money to Orduna.