SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon announced corruption-related charges against a former school board president and two former human rights commission employees on Friday, January 22.
Although Gascon did not specifically identify which incidents led to charges, both women had been known to embezzle money last year for Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow. The women were identified as former Human Rights Commissioner Zula Jones and ex-commissioner Nazly Mohajer. Political consultant Keith Jackson was also charged for grand theft, bribery, laundering money, and finance fraud with respect to his campaign. All parties had been announced by Gascon to have felony money laundering and bribery charges after a thorough investigation conducted by FBI Special Agent David J. Johnson.
According to Gascon, Jackson was charged with 12 counts, which included one count of money laundering, one count of grand theft of public money, and four counts of bribery. Mohajer and Jones were each charged with four counts of bribery and one count of money laundering. According to Johnson, Mohajer and Jones were said to have taken $20,000 in contributions from Chow’s racketeering conspiracies.
In a public statement provided by spokeswoman Christine Falvey, she stated, “Mayor Lee is deeply disturbed by the alleged criminal activities of Mr. Jackson, Ms. Jones and Ms. Mohair and strongly condemns them. There is absolutely no place in San Francisco for this corruption, especially in city government, and Mayor Lee urges the district attorney and city attorney to pursue these charges to the fullest extent of the law.”
The investigation of Chow has been ongoing since 2012. He was convicted of 162 counts of various crimes including murder, racketeering, and money laundering among many other crimes.
Mohajer, Jackson, and Jones could face a prison sentence upwards of seven years each; Gascon noted that Jackson could face a sentence upwards of 11 years if convicted.
