A leader of the Democratic Party, Melahat Rafiei is associated with a corruption probe about the proposed Angel Stadium sale. Rafiei has resigned from California and national-level party offices.
Rafiei described the controversy about her role as a hindrance to the national and state chairpersons of the party. Rafiei stated that a rush to determination is too common in politics. It has made it clear to her that resigning from her position is best for her party and herself.
It has been alleged that Rafiei tried to bribe some public officials involved in a case of federal corruption. She is also resigning from her position as a Democratic National Committee member. Rafiei is yet to respond to an LA Times request for comments, but she described herself as a confidential witness (CW) in the Federal Bureau of Investigations probe into the proposed Angel Stadium property sale.
In a recent court filing, federal investigators stated that they feel that there was witness tampering, bribery, fraud, and other forms of corruption about the proposal. To be more specific, the corruption types are related to the recent negotiations between the Los Angeles Angels and Anaheim city.
Mayor Harry Sidhu of Anaheim faces mounting demands to resign from his position after a recent FBI affidavit named him as the potential perpetrator of many crimes in the negotiations. That affidavit does not accuse Arte Moreno, the owner of the Los Angeles Angels, or his team of committing any wrongdoing.
Other Democratic Party members demanded that political consultant Rafiei resign her posts in the party. Rafiei said to the Voice of OC non-profit that she is the unnamed witness cited in the recent affidavits submitted to court.
The witness had already cooperated with the FBI investigation for a particular time. However, FBI investigators stated in a recent affidavit that the witness showed corruption complicity and that the agency does not expect any further cooperation.
Brian Adkins, an FBI Special Agent, believes that the witness has skipped material facts during the investigation throughout her cooperation with his agency. This includes additional instances in which the witness has made an offer to bribe the officials. The documentation was associated with a recent criminal filing accusing the erstwhile Anaheim Chamber of Commerce head of lying to an American mortgage lender in the scandal.
Rafiei denied her involvement in any form of wrongdoing and stated that she voluntarily worked with the investigation due to her patriotism. In a recent statement, she said that she has not tried to influence an elected official improperly. Rafiei added that she is sure that she worked to eradicate corruption to help Californians and the party.
State party chairperson Rusty Hicks declined an LA Times request for comments. However, referring to a recent statement that praised the service of Rafiei, Hicks stated that the party would appoint a replacement for Rafiei this July on an interim basis.
