Region : Fines for Illegal Donations

Six executives and employees of a company that illegally donated political contributions to two Los Angeles City Council members from the Westside have been ordered to pay $12,750 in civil fines, City Atty. James K. Hahn said.

The civil fines were imposed March 29 on the chief executive officer of Lycon Properties Inc., and other top officials of the Sherman Oaks-based company for their contributions to Councilmen Zev Yaroslavsky and Michael Woo during the 1989 election campaign, Hahn said in a statement.

“This was our first case involving givers of illegal contributions. . . . Laws regulating political donations apply equally to donors and recipients,” Hahn said.

The civil fines settle three lawsuits Hahn filed after the illegal contributions were discovered by city officials during routine audits of campaign reports. Hahn said Lycon broke City Charter regulations that limit individual contributions per campaign to $500 for City Council races and $1,000 for mayoral candidates. Also, Hahn said, it is illegal to make a campaign donation in another person’s name.

Both Yaroslavsky and Woo returned at least some of the illegal campaign donations on their own, after discovering them during internal audits. Additional donations were refunded after city prosecutors told the councilmen that they were illegal, Hahn said.