Hard Rock Cafe Owner to Pay Fine on Political Gifts : Finances: Peter Morton OKs $12,000 settlement of charges of improper campaign contributions to Los Angeles candidates.

Peter Morton, owner of the Hard Rock Cafe chain, has agreed to pay a $12,000 fine to settle accusations of money laundering stemming from campaign contributions the rock ‘n’ roll restaurateur made to several Los Angeles City Hall politicians.

The City Ethics Commission, which is expected to ratify the settlement agreement at its weekly meeting Wednesday, learned of the improper contributions as a result of a Nevada Gaming Control Board investigation of Morton’s application for a license to operate a casino.

“It was an accounting error, not a personal error,” Morton said Tuesday.

According to the stipulated agreement, Morton was reimbursed by Hard Rock Cafe Investors Ltd. for a contribution of $5,000 he made to former Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo in 1991. In addition, Morton’s wife, Tarlton, was reimbursed by another Morton business entity, Melrose Corp., for a $1,000 contribution she made to Woo in 1992.

It is illegal to disguise from the public the true source of campaign funds.

The stipulated agreement also maintained that Morton and business entities he controlled violated city campaign finance laws by contributing a total of $9,250 to Woo, Councilman Nate Holden and council candidate Daniel Pritikin (who ran against Councilman Marvin Braude) during the city’s 1993 primary election cycle.

City laws prohibited any single contributor from giving more than $7,000 to all candidates running for office during that period.

The politicians who received the contributions were not accused of any improprieties.

The campaign finance problems were first discovered last year by the Nevada Gaming Control Board as its investigators reviewed the 47-year-old restaurateur’s application to operate a casino in Las Vegas.

Although Morton’s application was approved and his Hard Rock Hotel & Casino opened last month, gaming officials insisted that Morton divulge his campaign finance violations to Los Angeles ethics officials--which he did through attorneys in Washington, D.C.

City Ethics Commission Executive Director Ben Bycel refused to comment on the Morton case.

Morton said in an interview that he did not ask that he or his wife be reimbursed for their contributions and that he was not aware of the repayments until they were called to his attention by the Nevada authorities. The decision to reimburse him, he said, was made in error by his accounting firm, Ernst & Young, as they prepared his taxes.

“Checks are put into my account and I don’t always know about them,” Morton said. “There are a lot of reimbursements you get in the course of doing business.” Morton owns 30 Hard Rock Cafe outlets.