Two former SF city engineers charged with accepting bribes
SAN FRANCISCO - Two former San Francisco city engineers were charged in federal court Thursday, adding to the growing head count of people swept up in a federal investigation of the city's building inspection operations.
Rodolfo "Rudy" Pada and Cyril Yu of the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection were charged with participating in an honest services wire fraud conspiracy, a charge of schemes to defraud victims of the right to the honest services of a public official. The charges are for accepting bribes in return for expediting and approving building and construction plan permits.
The charges announced Friday by the U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI follow a string of arrests and convictions this year involving kickbacks, tax evasion and bank fraud involving San Francisco city officials. Notable recent cases include former senior building inspector Bernard Curran and prominent engineer Rodrigo Santos.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office, information filed Thursday said that Pada, 68, accepted bribes from 2003 to 2017 consisting of cash, free meals, drinks, and other benefits bestowed by executives at a construction planning and design firm in return for expedited permit approval. In addition, Pada is alleged to arrange an interest-free $85,000 loan through a company executive.
Yu, 41, accepted bribes for permitting favors from 2018 to 2021, according to the statement.
The San Francisco building inspection department is responsible for overseeing enforcement of building, electrical, plumbing, and housing codes for San Francisco's more than 200,000 commercial and residential buildings.