SAN FRANCISCO—On Tuesday, March 4, the SFDA’s Office announced that Van Zeng, 36, a former employee of the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection was convicted after a trial by jury of two misdemeanor counts of having a financial conflict of interest in a government decision in violation of section 3.206(a) of the San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code.
San Francisco law prohibits a City and County employee from participating in making or seeking to influence a governmental decision where the employee has a financial interest.
According to the evidence and testimony at trial, Zeng, who was employed as a building inspector, signed off on inspections on two construction projects where his father’s company, Mutual Seiko construction, was the contractor. Zeng worked for his father’s company until he began his employment with the City and County of San Francisco.
“The City’s conflict-of-interest rules are meant to ensure there’s no appearance of an inside track to obtaining City government services,” said Assistant District Attorney Erin Loback. “Thank you to the jury for fairly enforcing the law.”
Sentencing is scheduled for April 23, 2025. Anyone who is aware of criminal misconduct by a government employee or government contractor in San Francisco is encouraged to call the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office’s Public Integrity Tip Line at 1-628-652-4444. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
Anyone who wants to report fraud, waste, or abuse by City employees or people who do business with the City is encouraged to contact the San Francisco Whistleblower Program at sf.gov/whistleblower-program.
