Harry Sidhu, Mayor of Anaheim, Being Probed by FBI for Corruption

India-West Staff Reporter

ANAHEIM, CA – Indian American and Republican Mayor of the city of Anaheim, is under federal investigation for corruption in relation to the city’s sale of Angel Stadium.

Shockwaves ran through the community when word went out that Orange County Superior Court judge Glenn Salter had halted the sale to Arte Moren’s company at the request of State Attorney General Rob Bonta.    

Anaheim City Council members too, at a meeting on May 17, after learning of the probe against Sidhu told the media they were devastated to hear of what had been transpiring and one even thought, though Sidhu has not yet been charged, that he should quit as Mayor.  More than 20 speakers on that day openly termed him corrupt. Sidhu failed to attend the meeting.

Bonta’s petition says that Sidhu might have sought campaign contributions from the Angels through the deal. A vocal Donald Trump supporter, Sidhu has run for various offices.

The FBI has accused Sidhu of feeding insider information to Angels officials during talks to sell the stadium to Moreno’s company. The FBI had an informant wearing a wire when Sidhu told him he was going to get a favor from the Angels getting them to set up a $1million PAC to fund his re-election.

The FBI affidavit says Sidhu bought a helicopter and used an Arizona address to avoid paying $15,887.50 in California sales tax even while he is said to have failed to pay taxes in Arizona.

The stadium deal has been making headlines for months, always seeming murky and facing opposition from one party or another. The oversized role of Sidhu was a perennial source of irritation and concern for activists who charged him of inserting himself in the discussions and promoting his self interests.

Sen. Tom Umberg and Assemblyman Tom Daly for instance, have been asking why the sale price of $325 million was much less than the property’s appraised value of $500 million.

Sidhu had run for office on the pledge of keeping the baseball stadium active and have the Angels team remain in the city. He seems to have put that in jeopardy, sources said.