Jury Hears Tapes of Official Allegedly Receiving Bribes

Federal prosecutors unveiled their strongest evidence yet in the corruption trial of Santa Ana Councilman Ted Moreno, playing tapes for the jury Wednesday of Moreno allegedly seeking and receiving bribes from a local businessman.

In audio tapes, Moreno can be heard asking for campaign funds from the businessman, an FBI informant who secretly recorded several of their conversations. On videotapes, Moreno on four occasions accepts thick envelopes stuffed with thousands of dollars from the informant, doing so warily at first but eventually joking about the money exchange.

In one video, Moreno tells the businessman, Vaskin Koshkerian, that he doesn’t need to count a stack of money. Moreno instead takes the envelope in his hand.

“Feels like um, two-five [$2,500],” Moreno says, prompting laughter from Koshkerian. Moreno later quips: “My hand knows the weight.”

The councilman is accused of extorting a total of $31,000 in exchange for his help in getting a beer and wine license for Koshkerian. Prosecutors allege that Moreno used the money to fund the campaigns of political allies in an effort to gain control of the City Council.

Moreno says that federal agents entrapped him and that Koshkerian was a highly paid informant who pressured him into making the deals. He also asserts that Koshkerian is untrustworthy because he is an admitted tax evader and the subject of several business lawsuits.

The taping began shortly after Moreno allegedly approached Koshkerian in a City Hall bathroom in 1996. With FBI agents always monitoring, Koshkerian and Moreno met numerous times over the next few months.

The rapport between the two is immediately apparent on the tapes. Moreno appears impressed by Koshkerian, a jovial man who claims to be worth $20 million to $25 million. Koshkerian, in turn, often heaps praise on Moreno, calling him a “smart cookie.”

They talk about arranging payments to the campaigns of different candidates. Frequently, Koshkerian seeks reassurance that the candidates will vote for his beer and wine permit if they are elected. At one meeting, Moreno tells him it is crucial that Koshkerian give more to the candidates because election day is getting closer.

“The thing is to try and get them in there, so you can get what you want,” Moreno says on tape.

Throughout the relationship, however, Moreno often seems wary.

An FBI agent revealed in court that Moreno twice almost became aware of the undercover operation. Once, Moreno allegedly noticed an unfamiliar car in his neighborhood moments before a meeting with Koshkerian. The car contained FBI agents, who pretended to be house hunting, the agent said.

Another close call occurred at Koshkerian’s gas station, when Moreno peered into a disguised FBI surveillance van that was used for recording the meetings.

On one audiotape, Moreno grills Koshkerian, asking him if he is an informant. Koshkerian laughs, saying he “hates the police.”

“I don’t mean to insult you,” Moreno says. “. . . I just need to protect myself.”

Defense attorney Dean Steward, suggested that there might have been more tapes that the FBI was not aware of.

Under cross-examination, FBI agent Gary K. Morley said it was possible but unlikely that Koshkerian destroyed some of the recordings.