SF Corruption Trial: Ex-Utilities Chief Harlan Kelly Accused of Shady Enterprise Dealings on First Day of Trial

“There’s a lot on this world that isn’t what it seems to be, and Walter Wong’s facade of honesty and integrity was pretend. He was a manipulator,” mentioned Brian Getz, Kelly’s protection lawyer. “He was corrupting metropolis officers.”

Kelly, who labored for town for 3 many years, is going through varied fraud expenses over two alleged schemes. One entails his alleged makes an attempt to assist Wong safe enterprise from his company upgrading metropolis streetlights, whereas the opposite stems from a mortgage utility he filed to rework his household’s house with the assistance of now-convicted actual property mogul Victor Makras.

Kelly and his spouse, former Metropolis Administrator Naomi Kelly, have been as soon as an influence couple in San Francisco. Because the utilities chief beginning in 2012, Harlan Kelly managed an company with a greater than a billion-dollar price range and a few 2,300 workers. As administrator, Naomi Kelly was the highest-ranking non-elected official in San Francisco overseeing greater than two dozen departments.

The costs in opposition to Harlan Kelly spurred each he and his spouse to resign in late 2020 and early 2021, respectively, as half of a bigger scandal that started with the federal case in opposition to former Public Works head Mohammed Nuru. The scandal has embroiled greater than a dozen different metropolis officers, businesspeople and contractors.

Contained in the courtroom Tuesday, Harlan Kelly sat together with his attorneys, carrying a black swimsuit and darkish glasses, whereas the previous metropolis administrator watched from the entrance row of the gallery.

Central to the case is Wong’s makes an attempt to win enterprise from the Public Utilities Fee as town sought to improve road lights. Wong allegedly paid 1000’s of {dollars} for the Kelly household to trip in China in March 2015, along with giving Harlan Kelly reductions on reworking work for his house.

“It is a case a couple of corrupt public official who took bribes, who took items and took advantages that have been meant to purchase his affect,” Assistant U.S. Legal professional David Ward instructed jurors.

Harlan Kelly can be accused of concealing and misrepresenting his money owed in a mortgage utility he filed with Makras to Quicken Loans. Amongst these money owed have been the quantities he owed Makras for an additional mortgage and Wong for reworking work.

However in his opening assertion to the jury, Getz argued that Wong overcharged Harlan Kelly for “shoddy” reworking work, and that there was nothing “nefarious” in regards to the relationship between Harlan Kelly and Makras.

“The entire thing was healthful,” Getz mentioned of the mortgage utility.

Makras individually went to trial over the mortgage utility and was convicted of constructing false statements to a financial institution and financial institution fraud.

Harlan Kelly’s trial is anticipated to proceed all through the week with witness testimony. He and his spouse Naomi Kelly declined to remark.