Moreno Says FBI Informant Coerced Him to Accept Bribe

Santa Ana City Councilman Ted R. Moreno took the witness stand Wednesday in his political corruption trial, testifying that the FBI informant who allegedly gave him $31,000 in illegal campaign contributions once threatened to “destroy” him.

Moreno painted the informant, Victor Koshkerian, as a “Jekyll and Hyde” who was frightening one minute and flattering the next. At the end, Moreno said, he accepted the money--furnished to Koshkerian in an FBI sting--to promote the candidacy of two friends who ran for the council in 1996 along with Moreno.

“He was screaming mad,” Moreno said of Koshkerian. “He said, ‘I am tired of your political games. You’re going to take the cash. If you don’t, I’ll destroy your life.’ ”

Moreno said Koshkerian made the threat during one of eight visits to Moreno’s home. He said the informant was angry because city officials were denying him a liquor license and he wanted Moreno to help him obtain the permit.

According to Moreno’s testimony, Koshkerian offered to raise about $30,000 of the $60,000 needed to finance the campaigns of Moreno’s friends, Hector Olivares and Roman Palacios, both unsuccessful council candidates. Both men have pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from the case.

In return, Moreno said Koshkerian demanded that Olivares and Palacios join Moreno in approving a liquor license for the Grand Avenue gas station when it came before a council vote. Moreno said he told Koshkerian his demand was illegal, tantamount to selling a vote.

Moreno’s testimony came hours after federal prosecutors rested their case against the councilman. Dean Steward, Moreno’s attorney, carefully led his client through testimony about his duties on the council and his meetings with Koshkerian.

Steward argues that Moreno was entrapped by the FBI. Moreno testified that he met Koshkerian in 1995 during a break from a council meeting when Koshkerian followed him into the restroom.

After that initial meeting, Moreno testified he met with Koshkerian numerous times in the succeeding months at various restaurants, his Santa Ana home and at Koshkerian’s gas station.

Former Anaheim police officer and councilman Lou Lopez testified on Moreno’s behalf that Koshkerian attempted to bribe him in 1998, when he ran unsuccessfully for county supervisor.

“He handed me a check for $500. He said, ‘What am I going to get for $500?’ ” Lopez testified. “I was shocked and angry. He was almost in a gray area of getting himself arrested for attempted bribery. I was a police officer and city councilman at the time.”

Lopez said he handed the check back to Koshkerian and walked away.

Prosecutors closed their case against Moreno with testimony from two witnesses who said Moreno gave them cash to write illegal checks to the 1996 campaigns of council candidates Moreno was backing. They said Moreno later tried to disguise some of the illegal contributions as loans.

The witnesses, Ana Vasquez and Noemi Romero, were failed council candidates in 1994 and volunteers on Moreno’s 1996 campaign. The women said they knew they were violating campaign finance laws but did as Moreno told them out loyalty to his political cause.