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A tightly knit group of San Jacinto city leaders and developers engaged in bribery, money laundering, conspiracy and tax evasion involving political campaign donations and the sale of two houses favoring a city councilman in return for beneficial votes.
Four city councilmen, a school board member and four developers were indicted Thursday in a sweeping corruption probe centered on San Jacinto, Ca.
Among the investigation's findings, contained in a search warrant released Friday:
City Councilman Jim Ayres and his wife, Nancy, a school district trustee, sold their home for $89,950, who used money provided by developer Stephen Holgate to pay for the house.
The Ayreses then bought a $550,000 home from one of Holgate's companies on a gated cul-de-sac where eventually four of the nine indicted people lived.
Jim Ayres voted as a councilman in favor of a development deal that helped Holgate prepare his property for the planned Mid-County Parkway and for commercial development after the road is built.
Ayres also voted to approve a name change for the cul-de-sac from Ayres Court to Shelbran Court to help market Holgate's Shelbran company.
Much of the money that changed hands originated with Holgate, a developer and San Jacinto Chamber of Commerce booster, who stood to benefit from decisions made by Ayres and three other indicted councilmen,(just like Athens Services, they bought Gary Clifford).
The court documents obtained Friday are part of an 18-month investigation.
An affidavit by Riverside County district attorney Senior Investigator Kim Robinson outlines the alleged relationship between Jim and Nancy Ayres, Holgate, and two of his business associates, Shaull and B. Jerry Ellison.
Robinson was following tips from an anonymous letter and attached documents, sent to the district's attorney office by someone claiming to be a San Jacinto city employee.
In the affidavit, Robinson outlined how Ayres sold Shaull a home for an above-market price, resulting in an almost $90,000 "gift" to Ayres. She detailed the money path by which she said Holgate secretly bankrolled the home purchase by Shaull.
All parties I consulted with advised me that it was a big red flag.
Holgate withdrew at least $78,000 from various bank accounts between April and June 2006, the same time period in which Ayres deposited $82,000 into the account for his state Assembly campaign, Robinson wrote.
Jim and Nancy Ayres received tens of thousands of dollars for their state Assembly and school board campaigns, respectively, from Holgate, Shaull and Ellison, and from others whom Holgate reimbursed for their contributions.
The search warrants obtained Friday do not cover all aspects of the 18-month-long investigation and do not mention all nine defendants -- the Ayreses, Holgate, Ellison, Shaull, San Jacinto councilmen James Potts, Dale Stubblefield and John Mansperger and developer Robert Osborne.
Search warrants were issued for their homes, Jim Ayres' Riverside County Economic Development Agency office in Indio and the Temecula home office of Holgate's bookkeeper.
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