Leading L.A. Democrat Facing Charges of Embezzling $800,000
Another top-ranking Democrat is facing a plethora of criminal corruption charges, according to a Friday report.
The Los Angeles District Attorney filed two additional charges against Democratic LA City Councilman Curren Price this week, accusing him of embezzling public funds and steering contracts for his personal financial benefit.
Price was initially charged with five counts of embezzlement in 2023, to which he pleaded not guilty.
“Embezzling public funds and awarding contracts for your own financial gain is the antithesis of public service,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said. “Our communities expect and deserve better from their public officials.
“I thank our investigative team and prosecutors in the Public Integrity Division for diligently pursuing every lead and holding elected officials accountable. Self-dealing and pay-to-play politics will not be tolerated in Los Angeles County,” Hochman added.
The DA’s office added:
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has filed two new public corruption charges against Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren Price after uncovering evidence that the city’s housing authority and LA Metro paid Price’s wife more than $800,000 total at the same time Price voted to award the agencies multimillion-dollar contracts.
Curren De Mille Price Jr. has been the Los Angeles City Councilmember for the Ninth District since 2013. Like all other councilmembers, he is prohibited from having a financial interest associated with any project that comes before the City Council.
Price … was charged on June 13, 2023, in case BA515782 with five felony counts of embezzlement of government funds, three felony counts of perjury and two felony counts of conflict of interest.
The 10 felony counts allege that Del Richardson & Associates, a company owned solely by Price’s wife, Delbra Pettice Richardson, received payments totaling more than $150,000 between 2019 and 2021 from developers before he voted to approve projects.
Price is also accused of embezzling approximately $33,800 in city funds from 2013-2017 to pay for medical benefits for Richardson, who he falsely claimed was his wife while still legally married to Lynn Suzette Price.
Between October 22, 2019, and June 30, 2020, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles allegedly paid Del Richardson & Associates about $609,600. During that same period, Curren Price voted to approve a $35 million federal grant and supported a $252 million state grant application for the agency, despite his staff having flagged a potential conflict of interest beforehand.
From October 27, 2020, to October 20, 2021, LA Metro reportedly paid Del Richardson & Associates roughly $219,500. During that time, Price introduced and voted in favor of a motion to allocate $30 million to LA Metro. His staff had also flagged the conflict prior to the votes.
Prosecutors further allege that Price used his position in city government to direct city lease agreements and more than $2 million in federal COVID-19 relief grants to the nonprofit Home at Last. At the time of the votes, Home at Last was a paying tenant of the Urban Healthcare Project, where Price was serving as CEO. The funds were intended to support homelessness initiatives.
Other Democrats are currently under legal threat, including another lawmaker from California.
Grand juries in Virginia and Maryland are considering criminal indictments against New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Senator Adam Schiff on claims that they faked property records to achieve preferential loan conditions.
Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Ed Martin as Special Attorney to oversee the prosecution of James and Schiff on charges of alleged mortgage fraud, bank fraud, and wire fraud — offenses that each carry potential 30-year prison sentences.
“Attorney General Bondi and President Trump have given me a very serious mission. I am committed to going where the facts take me. For months DOJ and the FBI have been working on these two cases, it is my job to stick the landing,” said Martin, the former acting US Attorney for Washington, DC.
