LOS ANGELES : Bell Cab Agrees to $45,000 State Fine for Illegal Gifts

A Los Angeles cab company has agreed to pay the state $45,000 in penalties for repeatedly making illegal contributions to City Hall politicians.

The tentative settlement between Bell Cab Co. and the California Fair Political Practices Commission is part of a three-year series of state and local investigations of campaign money laundering in Southern California that has netted more than $1 million in penalties.

Drivers and other Bell Cab employees made more than $15,000 in campaign donations to city candidates in 1990 and 1991 and were secretly reimbursed by the taxi firm, according to the settlement. The donations violated laws intended to clearly identify a candidate’s financial backers, the agreement says. Previously, Bell Cab paid the city Ethics Commission a $40,000 penalty for many of the same donations. Scott Schaffer, Bell Cab’s president, said Tuesday that employees did not understand campaign rules, but the firm takes responsibility for the violations.

The taxi firm, which operates in Central and West Los Angeles, is a client of former councilman and lobbyist Arthur Snyder, who is the focus of a separate district attorney’s investigation of alleged illegal donations. Snyder has denied any wrongdoing. No evidence has been found that Snyder directed Bell Cab’s illegal contributions, Schaffer said.