"Not long after then-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao's house was raided by the FBI in the summer of 2024, a quickie scandal bubbled up that state Attorney General Rob Bonta had some tangential involvement, his helping steer $680,000 in state loan money to a failed energy startup run by one of the figures in the Sheng Thao scandal. That scandal never went anywhere, and Bonta, who was a state Assemblymember at the time of the loan, was never shown to have any wrongdoing on his hands."
"Now the Bay Area News Group reports that Bonta received a letter saying he was being blackmailed, and blackmailed by the very same people who are accused of bribing Sheng Thao. The letter is from a very curious character in the Sheng Thao scandal named Mario Juarez, who's described by the Chronicle as an Oakland businessman with a history of financial troubles who twice ran for city council."
An FBI raid on then-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao's house occurred in summer 2024. A subsequent quick scandal connected Attorney General Rob Bonta to a $680,000 state loan steered to a failed energy startup tied to figures in the investigation. The matter produced no proven wrongdoing by Bonta, who was a state Assemblymember when the loan occurred. Bonta paid about $468,000 to attorneys at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati. Bonta's senior adviser said the legal work provided information potentially helpful to investigators. Bonta received a blackmail letter from Mario Juarez, an Oakland businessman with a history of financial troubles and alleged investor fraud, who is widely believed to be an FBI informant who turned against the alleged bribe-givers.
Read at sfist.com
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