Docs: Bell Official OK'd Loans Without City Approval
BELL, Calif. (CBS/AP) — Already under intense scrutiny for its shady financial dealings, the former Bell city manager reportedly loaned hundreds of thousands of dollars behind the back -- and away from the oversight -- of city officials, according to documents uncovered by the Los Angeles Times.
Documents show ex-City Manager Robert Rizzo authorized city loans totaling nearly $400,000 to two businesses without the City Council's approval or collateral to back the loans.
The documents that the Los Angeles Times reviewed show Rizzo gave a $300,000 loan to a local Chevrolet dealer in 2008. The Times reports that loan is now the subject of a court fight because the dealer went out of business within a year of receiving the loan, having repaid nothing.
A second loan for $72,000 was given to the Steelworkers Old Timers Foundation in 2005. It's unclear whether it was repaid.
Rizzo earned about $1.5 million a year before resigning along with the assistant city manager and police chief in the face of public outcry earlier this summer.
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