Questionable Donations to Mayor Uncovered : Fund raising: A developer arranged $3,500 in contributions while lobbying the city for a housing project, records and interviews show.

A developer who figures in a Los Angeles corruption probe collected questionable campaign donations for Mayor Tom Bradley while seeking approval for a city-subsidized housing development, records and interviews show.

Developer-consultant Harold R. Washington arranged $3,500 in donations for Bradley’s 1989 reelection campaign, The Times found. The donations were made with cashier’s checks purchased through a bank account bearing the name of one of Washington’s city-subsidized housing developments.

The checks identified the donors as Washington, three of his associates and Bradley’s personal assistant. But interviews called into question whether Washington legally reported some of the donations and complied with contribution limits.

Jerome Steinbaum, a Washington business associate, is listed as the donor on a $1,000 cashier’s check in 1987. However, he told The Times he has not contributed to Bradley in many years. “I know absolutely nothing about any political contributions,” he said.

After checking his records, Steinbaum said through an aide that he made no contributions to Bradley in 1987.

Another $500 cashier’s check indicates that Wanda Moore, Bradley’s longtime executive assistant at City Hall, was the donor. In a brief interview, Moore said she did not recall the cashier’s checks and did not believe she donated to her boss by way of Washington. She declined further comment.

Washington said he was unable to explain the apparent contradictions. He denied that he made any improper donations, used public funds for donations or received special treatment from Bradley or other city officials.

The mayor’s office declined to discuss the contributions or the mayor’s contacts with Washington. “The mayor knows nothing about this matter,” said Bradley’s press secretary, Bill Chandler.

The Times previously reported that the Los Angeles Police Department, along with the district attorney’s office, is investigating allegations that Washington made political contributions or payments to city officials, including Bradley, to help secure approval for a city-subsidized housing development called Sheridan Manor. The inquiry was disclosed in a police affidavit filed in support of a search warrant.

The cashier’s checks, obtained through a state Public Records Act lawsuit filed by The Times, add to the legal questions surrounding Washington’s political fund raising.

At the time of the $3,500 in donations, records show, Washington was pressing city redevelopment officials to complete an agreement that would transfer city-owned buildings to his Sheridan Manor development team.

Investigators have been combing financial records seized from Washington and some of his business associates to determine if public funds were misused or if “any illegal-type contributions were made,” said one source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

As a matter of policy, state and local officials declined to comment on the contributions collected by Washington.

Jay Greenwood, spokesman for the California Fair Political Practices Commission, said that failing to accurately disclose the source of campaign contributions is considered “laundering” and is a violation of state law.

City campaign laws limit contributions in mayoral races to $1,000 from any single source, said Assistant City Atty. Tony Alperin. Violations can lead to criminal misdemeanor charges or civil penalties, officials said.

Washington, 70, a longtime political fund-raiser for Bradley and others, said he or one of his employees purchased the cashier’s checks donated to the mayor’s campaign.

Washington said he is not certain about the source of the funds used to purchase the checks. “I don’t know. . . . I don’t know (about) records,” he said. “I’m not good at bookkeeping.”

The developer said he or someone else may have contributed the $1,000 attributed to Steinbaum. It “could have come from several people, or it may have been money I borrowed from (Steinbaum),” Washington said.

Washington said he also is uncertain about the source of funds for Moore’s contribution.

Generally, he said, his fund raising for Bradley involved filling tables at political dinners with supporters who would “either give me the money, or promise me the money or something.”

The corruption probe began earlier this year after two of Washington’s former business partners alleged that he sought political contributions or payments for Bradley and other city officials to help secure the Sheridan Manor project, court records show. The recently completed project involved refurbishment of two apartment buildings in the Koreatown and MacArthur Park areas, partly with Community Redevelopment Agency funds.

Washington’s relationship with Bradley has been one focus of the probe, said sources familiar with the investigation. Washington has contributed at least $12,000 to the mayor’s campaigns in recent years and helped raised tens of thousands of dollars, records and interviews show. The developer said he also has encouraged tenants in one of his city-subsidized housing projects, Baldwin Villa Plaza, to volunteer in Bradley campaigns, and has arranged election telephone banks for the mayor.

Authorities said they are scrutinizing campaign contributions involving Washington, but they had not seen copies of cashier’s checks obtained by The Times.

Last month, The Times reported that the mayor has intervened repeatedly with city and federal agencies to assist Washington when his housing projects have run into obstacles. He urged federal housing officials to allow a private developer to take over Sheridan Manor in 1984 when Washington was seeking the project. At Washington’s request, he also endorsed a city request last year for special federal assistance for Sheridan Manor.

Bradley has denied doing anything improper or influencing city officials who handled the Sheridan Manor project. He also denied that there was any connection between Washington’s fund raising and his actions. Bradley said his only interest in dealing with Washington was to get more affordable housing for the city.

Washington, a lead consultant and onetime partner in the Sheridan Manor project, said he “never received a dime” from the development or special treatment from city officials. No one “helped me do a damn thing to facilitate this project,” he said.

The cashier’s checks were donated to Bradley’s mayoral campaign committee in December, 1987, records show. The donors identified on the sequentially numbered cashier’s checks were: Washington, $500; Steinbaum, the major Sheridan Manor investor, $1,000; Bradley aide Moore, $500; Lanz Alexander, a Sheridan Manor partner, $1,000, and Patricia St. James, a friend of Washington, $500.

Alexander said he probably made the donation bearing his name. He said it was difficult to ascertain because “money was going back and forth” between him and Washington in 1987 for a variety of purposes. St. James could not be reached for comment.

When the donations were made, Washington was trying to complete an agreement that would transfer the CRA-owned apartment buildings to his development team, records show. A few months later, the project was transferred.

The donations came between two meetings that, the mayor’s calendar shows, were held with Washington in Bradley’s City Hall office in mid-December, 1987, and mid-January, 1988. The latter session included former CRA Administrator John Tuite, who had worked as a consultant for Washington on Sheridan Manor before joining the city.

Tuite acknowledged Tuesday that he met with Washington and the mayor on at least one occasion to discuss Washington’s projects, but he said he could not recall what was discussed in the 1987 and 1988 meetings. He also said that he avoided deliberations on Sheridan Manor because his involvement might create an appearance of a conflict of interest.

It is unusual, though not illegal, to use cashier’s checks to make political donations, campaign experts say.

Washington said he customarily collected campaign contributions from other people, then purchased cashier’s checks with the funds. He said that this avoided bounced personal checks and other problems.

The cashier’s checks Washington obtained for Bradley’s campaign in 1987 bear the number of a Family Savings & Loan account that Washington said he controls. The account is in the name of Baldwin Villa Plaza, a large senior citizens housing project near the Crenshaw Shopping Center. Washington developed the project with a city loan and one of the largest city-backed housing bonds ever issued.

Ron Thigpenn, Family Savings & Loan executive vice president, said the account identified on the cashier’s check “would be the account . . . out of which the money came.”

The account is something of a mystery. It was not among the accounts identified to city Housing Authority auditors during a recent review of Baldwin Villa Plaza’s books, records and interviews show.

Nor did Washington list the account when he declared his personal and business assets in a 1989 bankruptcy filing, federal court records show.

Washington declined to discuss specifics of the account, although he did say it may have been used for political fund raising, among other things. “I don’t have accounts for purposes,” he said. “I use any account I have for all and any things.”

CONTRIBUTIONS IN QUESTION

Doubt has been cast on the actual source of political contributions made to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley by way of $3,500 worth of cashier’s checks purchased by developer-consultant Harold Washington, who figures in an ongoing City Hall corruption probe. Two of those identified as contributors said they did not make, or could not recall, the donations.

NAME

Jerome Steinbaum, a Washington business associate named as a donor, said he has not contributed to Bradley in many years. After checking records, he said through a spokesman that he made no campaign contribution to Bradley in 1987.

ACCOUNT

The account used to purchase the cashier’s checks is in the name of a taxpayer-subsidized housing project developed by Washington. Washington said he controls the account, but that public funds were not used for the donations.

DATE

At the time of the donations, Washington was trying to complete an agreement with the city that would turn over two Community Redevelopment Agency apartment buildings to his development team for a low-income housing project.

THE LAW

* State campaign laws prohibit political contribution “laundering,” which is providing misinformation about the true source of money used for donations.

* City campaign laws place a strict $1,000 limit on political contributions made by a single individual or firm.

* Violations can lead to civil fines or prosecution as criminal misdemeanors, authorities said.