R
eal estate developer Samuel Leung is in hot water after being accused of breaking campaign finance laws in Los Angeles. According to a recent filing by the city's Ethics Commission, he is alleged to have committed a whopping 444 violations of these laws, including those that prohibit money laundering in campaigns.

    The commission's filing, released on Friday, states that there is probable cause to believe that between 2009 and 2015, Leung reimbursed campaign donors in violation of city law and exceeded the city's limits for political contributions. This is not the first time Leung's name has been associated with campaign finance issues. In 2016, a Times investigation revealed a network of people and companies tied to him had made political donations totaling more than $600,000 while city leaders were reviewing his proposed 352-unit apartment project, then known as Sea Breeze.

    When reporters from The Times contacted these donors, some denied making contributions or said they didn't remember doing so. This pattern of donations from unlikely sources suggests an effort to bypass campaign finance laws designed to make political giving transparent to the public.

    Sea Breeze, located in L.A.'s Harbor Gateway neighborhood, was approved by the City Council in 2015 and opened several years later under the new name Seacrest. The Times' coverage sparked investigations by both the Ethics Commission and the L.A. County District Attorney's Office, which filed a case against Leung. In 2020, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit campaign money laundering and was sentenced to five years of probation and 500 hours of community service.

    The Ethics Commission's probe began with the web of contributors identified by The Times and expanded to include other political donors. They found extensive evidence that at least 66 donors had made contributions that were directly or indirectly reimbursed or paid for by Leung. More than 400 contributions to political committees created by or for local politicians were attributed to these donors.

    Los Angeles prohibits donors from making assumed name contributions — donations attributed to one person but actually funded by someone else. This law is designed to prevent contributors from circumventing the city's limits on political donations and to provide clarity on the true source of political contributions.

    According to the Ethics Commission filing, Leung reimbursed or caused the reimbursement of more than 400 contributions to political committees — both campaigns and officeholder accounts — that exceeded contribution limits by a total of more than $210,000. The evidence shows that Leung directly solicited and reimbursed contributions from family, certain individuals who worked for him, and family members of these individuals.

    Leung was also involved in reimbursing eight contributions totaling $80,000 to an independent expenditure committee that had no limit on the size of each donation it received.

    In the coming weeks, the five-member Ethics Commission will select a hearing officer for an administrative hearing. The commissioners will then determine whether the alleged violations occurred and, if so, what Leung's penalty should be. According to the commission, the maximum penalty is either $5,000 per violation or three times the amount of money that was improperly contributed or reported, whichever is greater.