Long Beach-based Melahat Rafiei’s Progressive Solutions Consulting client list reads like a who’s who in city politics, filled with Long Beach officials, school board members and two-thirds of the nine members. current city council.
In the last City Council election, for example, he campaigned for former Long Beach police officer Cindy Allen, whom he would help lead to victory. Rafiei was the one who announced Allen’s candidacy on Oct. 14, 2019. Two weeks later, apparently unknown to Allen, Rafiei was in FBI custody on suspicion of trying to bribe two members of the Irvine City Council, according to recent court documents. published.
That explosive revelation would remain under wraps until last week, when court documents from federal agents gave a glimpse into a wide-ranging corruption investigation focused on Anaheim, which has already led to the resignation of the mayor and charges against the former CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, but has reached politics. Circles through Southern California.
A photo of Melahat Rafiei from her campaign website for secretary of the California Democratic Party.
Rafiei’s influence was widespread. When she ran for secretary of the California Democratic Party, a wide variety of local Democrats backed her upincluding Congressman Alan Lowenthal, State Senator Lena Gonzalez, Mayor Robert Garcia, Councilmembers Rex Richardson, Al Austin and Mary Zendejas and Long Beach Unified Trustee Megan Kerr. A large portion of these Long Beach officials had employed or currently employ Rafiei’s Progressive Consulting Services for their campaigns.
Rafiei, who had held both state and national Democratic Party positions, quit both jobs Sunday night, saying recent media coverage of his 2019 arrest and subsequent work as a cooperating witness for the FBI was proving too upsetting. .
When contacted by the Long Beach Post, local city leaders who had hired Rafiei to work on their campaigns said they were unaware of his 2019 arrest, only learning from recent media reports:
- Councilwoman Suzie Price, whose current mayoral campaign had hired Rafiei for political consulting services, said she terminated her contracts with Rafiei’s company “as soon as the articles were published last week.” “I will no longer be using (Progressive Solutions Consulting) fundraising services,” Price wrote in a text message. Campaign finance records show that Price’s mayoral campaign paid Progressive Solutions more than $33,000 so far this year for his mayoral campaign. Records also show that Left Hook, which runs her campaign, paid Progressive Solutions more than $17,000, and that Price’s campaign still owes Rafiei a little more than $18,000. Records show that Progressive Solutions was paid more than $14,900 in 2021.
- Although Allen used the services of Progressive Solutions Consulting for his City Council campaign, Allen’s chief of staff, Connor Lock, said Allen was unaware of Rafiei’s 2019 arrest.
- Campaign finance records show Councilman Roberto Uranga’s campaign paid Progressive Consulting nearly $8,000 in 2021 and another $2,600 in the first four months of this year, with an unpaid bill of $1,512.75. “I parted ways with Progressive Solutions Consulting earlier this year and was not aware of any prior arrests or ongoing investigations until recent information became public,” Uranga said in a statement.
- Councilman Rex Richardson said in a statement that he has not worked with Rafiei’s firm since July 2019. He also said he was not aware of any of his alleged illegal activities in Orange County. “She was no longer aligned with our goals and I felt like it was time to move on,” Richardson said. Richardson’s 2018 City Council campaign paid Progressive Solutions about $6,000, campaign finance records show.
- Campaign finance records show that State Senator Lena Gonzalez’s 2018 City Council campaign paid Progressive Solutions nearly $3,000, and her 2020 State Senate campaign also paid the company more than $8,400 in 2021. Gonzalez she said in a statement that she was “deeply disappointed” to learn of Rafiei’s decision. alleged connection to public corruption in Orange County. “As a former client, I was shocked to learn late last week of her arrest in 2019 related to these very serious allegations,” she said. “She had no prior knowledge of these issues and I am extremely concerned at the utter lack of consideration by so many who have relied on her to lead with integrity. Public corruption is a blatant violation of the public trust and every elected leader, including myself, must do everything in their power to combat and prevent it in their communities.”
- City Attorney Doug Haubert, who is employing Rafiei’s firm Progressive Solutions for his re-election bid, could not be reached for comment. Campaign finance records show Haubert’s re-election campaign has paid Progressive Solutions more than $13,000 since mid-2021 and owes the company just over $6,000.
- The current City Council campaign of Long Beach Unified Trustee Megan Kerr has also employed Progressive Consulting. Campaign finance records show that the Kerr campaign has so far paid Rafiei’s firm $7,300 and has an outstanding bill of $1,454. Kerr said in a text message that he “canceled my contact with PSC Campaigns last week when I read the news” and paid the $1,454 bill.
- Councilmember Suely Saro, Councilmember Mary Zendejas and City Council candidate Joni Ricks-Oddie have also employed Progressive Solutions Consulting, campaign finance records show.
Rafiei could not be reached for comment on this story. in a statement on Twitter Announcing his resignation from his national and state Democratic Party positions on Sunday, Rafiei said he “never attempted to improperly influence any elected official” and was, in fact, working “to root out corruption.”
In an affidavit focused on the Anaheim corruption allegations, FBI Special Agent Brian Adkins detailed Rafiei’s arrest nearly three years ago and his subsequent work as a cooperating witness in the bureau’s investigation.
He writes that federal agents arrested Rafiei on Oct. 28, 2019, on charges that included “theft or bribery in connection with programs receiving federal funds,” according to Adkins’ affidavit. Rafiei, although not named in the affidavit, admitted in Voice of OC to be the “Cooperating Witness 1” mentioned in the affidavit.
According to Adkins’ affidavit, Rafiei allegedly conspired to bribe two elected members of the Irvine City Council in exchange for passing favorable cannabis laws in the city for one of his clients.
He began cooperating with special agents in a public corruption investigation in the city of Anaheim after his arrest, and prosecutors dropped the charges against him but left open the possibility of re-file, according to the affidavit.
But Adkins also wrote in the affidavit that he believed Rafiei “lied to FBI special agents” on the day of his arrest and “has withheld material facts from investigators throughout” his cooperation with the FBI, including possible additional moments. in which “he has offered to pay bribes to elected public officials.”
The federal public corruption investigation rocked the city of Anaheim and halted the sale of Angel Stadium following allegations that Mayor Harry Sidhu was taking advantage of the deal to secure campaign contributions.
Sidhu resigned Monday “in order to continue to act in the best interests of Anaheim and to allow this great city to move forward without distraction,” according to a statement from his attorney. in the LA Times.
Last week, former Anaheim Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Ament was charged with making false statements to a financial institution for allegedly lying to a mortgage lender about his assets while seeking a $1.5 million home loan in Big Bear City.
Federal investigators alleged that Ament and a political adviser ran a “cabbalah” that influenced business and politics in Anaheim behind closed doors.
Among the allegations, Ament is accused of diverting funds intended for the House to his own personal bank account and defrauding a cannabis company that had hired Rafiei to help with favorable cannabis laws in the city.
The The Orange County Register identified the cannabis company Rafiei represented From the Earth, whose CEO, Dan Zaharoni, also had ties to Long Beach.
Zaharoni was director of development for Urban Commons, which operated the Queen Mary before it went bankrupt amid allegations of fraud and mismanagement. Zaharoni also paid then-Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce tens of thousands of dollars through From the Earth and other cannabis-related companies he controlled, something investigators said was a conflict of interest.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect Councilwoman Suzie Price’s 2021 payments to Progressive Solutions Consulting and that Connor Lock is Councilmember Cindy Allen’s chief of staff.
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