Todd Ament was formerly the CEO of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. He now faces accusations of making false financial statements to help acquire a loan, which he used to purchase a house in Big Bear, California.
Falsely inflated assets
This came out through a federal criminal complaint that started as accusations of fraud focused on Ament. But the conspiracy was shown to run even deeper in mid-May 2022 after the filing of new FBI affidavits in court revealed the extent of the corruption there is to be investigated. A group of corrupt Anaheim city officials is at the center of the scheme, with the mayor being one of them.
Ament has been accused of defrauding Chase Bank. This allegedly happened when he purchased a home in December of 2020 located in Big Bear Lake, a small Southern Californian city 90 miles from Anaheim.
According to the fraud accusations, he qualified for a mortgage by erroneously inflating his assets. The allegations continue that Ament subsequently utilized $205,000 in the form of a private loan.
Ament allegedly had a political consultant arrange this loan, and it was used for a portion of the down payment. This also reduced the price of purchase.
A larger plot of corruption at play
There were some Anaheim city officials who were reportedly part of a secret group made up of office-holders, city employees, and business owners. This cabal met regularly, finding new ways of exerting their power to control the operation of the Anaheim government, and reinforcing existing methods of influence.
These allegations come from an agent of the FBI who signed the complaint against Ament. The accusations are documented in court papers that have now been made public.
At $320 million, it could be argued that the sale of the Angel Stadium is the biggest transaction of real estate in Anaheim’s history. The sale has now been paused at the request of California Attorney General Rob Bonta. When his office requested that a local court halts the process, a court filing that was related to the stadium sale showed that Harry Sidhu, mayor of Anaheim, is dealing with an investigation for public corruption of his own.
