https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/10/30/report-oakland-building-inspector-took-bribes-undisclosed-payments/
Report: Oakland building inspector took thousands of dollars in bribes, undisclosed payments
OAKLAND — A former city building inspector accused of taking thousands of dollars in bribes and other payments from people whose properties he was inspecting could get slapped with a million-dollar-plus fine.
Thomas Espinosa took $2,700 in bribes from people whose buildings he was inspecting and failed to disclose to the city that he received more than $300,000 for contracting work and other work from people whose properties he was inspecting, according to a report from investigators for the city’s Public Ethics Commission.
The report alleges Espinosa — who worked for the city from 2005 to 2016 — committed 47 ethics violations. The maximum penalty for all those violations — which include accepting bribes, misusing public money and using city authority to coerce — totals $1,151,737. Investigators will present their report Nov. 5 to the commission, which could decide then whether to pursue fining Espinosa.
This is the Public Ethics Commission’s largest case based on the number of alleged violations and penalty amount, executive director Whitney Barazoto told this news organization. She confirmed that the commission has passed along its findings to law enforcement.
Efforts to reach Espinosa were unsuccessful.
The investigation began in October 2016, after Espinosa stopped working for the city. Documents obtained through a public records request and posted on the city’s website show Espinosa resigned in August 2016 after being issued a notice of termination.
The report details his interactions with landlords, a real estate agent and property owners during his last few years on the job.
Espinosa was assigned to inspect properties owned by a landlord who was sued by the city for failing to take care of about a dozen properties and for housing tenants in dilapidated, unhealthy apartments. A judge ordered the landlord in 2009 to bring the properties up to code and Espinosa monitored the effort until 2015, the report says. At the same time, the landlord loaned Espinosa $100,000 and paid him $76,179 for contracting work and consulting services, the report says.
Although inspectors are required to file annual statements listing their economic interests, Espinosa didn’t disclose the contracting work for 2015 and 2016 and never told his superiors about the loan, according to the report. He also never repaid the loan and the landlord has not attempted to recover it, the report adds.
Espinosa also solicited a total of $1,200 from the landlord in return for passing inspections at four of the properties that previously had failed, according to the report.
In addition, the report says, Espinosa was assigned in 2013 to inspect a house on Rifle Lane where he found some code violations. A broker tried to sell the property a few years later, and in 2016 met with Espinosa in front of City Hall and gave him a personal check for $1,500 to resolve the outstanding permit issues, the report says.
That same day, the broker applied for building, electrical and plumbing permits for the property, and Espinosa waived the code violation fees, as well as other requirements, the report notes. Espinosa scheduled himself to inspect the property after that and marked the code violations as “abated” within two minutes of scheduling it, the report says. Espinosa never disclosed that the broker paid him.
Espinosa also received $12,800 from the owner of a house on Valley View Road. The owner bought the property as an investment with the intention of fixing and selling it. After the owner applied for building permits to replace the roof and repair rot — and paid Espinosa $1,900 — Espinosa issued a “stop-work” order.
The report didn’t say what the $1,900 was for, but noted the stop-work order was fictitious and never was recorded with the building department, the report says.
“Respondent used the stop-work order to coerce (the owner) into providing (Espinosa) with more payments,” the report states.
Espinosa also issued a stop-work order against a property on Lawlor Street for code violations involving a conversion of the building’s attic and basement. He passed the inspections a week after the owner agreed to pay him $21,500, the report states.
A similar scenario occurred with a house on Manila Avenue in 2014. Espinosa issued a stop-work order there, but a year later cleared the permits after the owner paid him $66,277 for “real estate services and general contracting work,” the report states.
Espinosa never disclosed that money, nor the fact that he was the president of One Development and Investment Corp., a real estate company owned by the Manila Avenue property owner, the report says. Espinosa received $19,770 from the company in 2015, the report adds.
Espinosa also received money for “consulting services” from a construction company and several businessmen in 2015 that he never disclosed. He also drove a city-owned vehicle to Orinda to conduct personal business, used a city-owned computer and printer to print hundreds of pages of “personal materials” and used a city-owned cell phone to make 587 minutes of personal calls while on vacation, the report says.
