Last week, a California state court ordered disciplinary measures against a former Los Angeles city official in connection with an alleged pro quo agreement involving a $30 million city contract.
William Funderburk, who at the time served as vice chairman of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Commission, approved the nearly $30 million settlement while also receiving pro bono legal work from the attorney who sought the settlement, state prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Funderburk lied during a 2020 interview with the U.S. Attorney’s Office about accepting pro bono legal work worth more than $30,000, and also illegally solicited political contributions.
Funderburk is the first former city official to be charged by state attorneys general in connection with a massive scandal at DWP and City Hall involving corrupt lawyers and illegal payments.
He faces five charges including committing acts involving moral turpitude, dishonesty and corruption. If convicted, the state attorney can disbar him, suspend his law license or place him on probation.
State Attorney George Cardona, the lead prosecutor in the trial, said in a statement Wednesday that Fuderburk “has an ethical and legal obligation to ensure that he does not take actions that appear to have been influenced by any conflicts of interest or gifts he may have received.”
“Bill has done nothing wrong,” said Fuderberk’s attorney, Jan Handzlik. “When the full story comes out, we believe Bill will be exonerated.”
Fuderburk, an environmental advocate, is well-known in Los Angeles Democratic circles and was appointed to the DWP board by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2013, resigning in 2018.
On June 6, 2017, Fuderburk voted with other DWP board members to award a cybersecurity contract to Aventador, a company owned by then-New York attorney Paul Paradis, state bar prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Fuderburk exchanged text messages with Paradis about a legal case involving Fuderburk’s firm before the vote and also requested that Paradis provide legal services.
In the hallway before the vote at DWP headquarters, Funderburk met Paradis and thanked him for his help with the legal matter, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Funderburk told Paradis: “You take care of me, I take care of you.”
“Paradis was referring to the statement that defendant would vote in favor of the Aventador contract if Paradis and (Paradis’ law firm) continued to provide uncompensated legal services and assistance to defendant,” prosecutors wrote.
Paradis and his law firm provided Funderburk with $31,477.50 in 36.5 hours of unpaid work between May and August 2017, according to prosecutors, who described how Paradis and his law partner reviewed court documents, provided analysis and worked with Funderburk’s team.
Paradis was a central player in the DWP scandal, which has its roots in the disastrous implementation of the DWP’s new billing system, launched in 2013. While working for the city attorney’s office, he secretly filed a class-action lawsuit against the city in an effort to quickly resolve all legitimate customer complaints about billing errors.
He pleaded guilty in 2021 to federal bribery charges related to the forgery case but unrelated to his dealings with Funderburk and received a reduced sentence of 33 months in exchange for his cooperation.
His plea agreement described how an unnamed DWP commissioner accepted free legal work on his behalf, and the details identified Funderburk as the commissioner.
Handzlik reiterated Wednesday that Fuderberk never received free legal work from Parade.
The Times on Wednesday reviewed three emails from 2017 in which Fuderberk or staff at his law firm asked Paradis to review documents related to one of the firm’s cases.
In one of the emails dated August 6, 2017, Funderburk instructed an employee of his law firm to send documents to Paradis and its legal partner.
“(The brief) Still needs work, but I want your input,” Funderburk wrote.
Handzlik said Funderburk only asked several attorneys, including Paradis, for “normal professional dealings.”
“It was only later, drawing others into his grand scheme, that Paradis described Bill’s behavior as inappropriate and estimated his ‘legal fees’ at more than $30,000,” Hendzlik said. “In fact, the Aventador decision was made with or without Bill’s vote. It would have passed 4-0 even without his vote.”
Funderburk has never been charged with any crime or otherwise implicated in a false claims scheme.
In an Oct. 16, 2020, interview with federal prosecutors, Funderburk did not disclose the legal work Paradis had performed for him or that Paradis had purchased food for him on approximately five to seven occasions.
Funderburk also failed to disclose to the government that he directed campaign contributions from Paradis to U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), prosecutors say.
An email reviewed by The Times shows that in October 2017, Funderburk sent Paradis and another lawyer an invitation to raise money for Gillibrand. Funderburk was togetherIn an email, Funderburk – he instructed Paradis and another lawyer. to contact Gillibrand’s financial advisor.
Under city ethics laws, city commissioners cannot solicit contributions from people who have had a problem before their commission in the previous 12 months.
Handzlik denied that Fuderburk solicited contributions from Paradis and argued that the city’s ethics policy does not apply to federal candidates.
In another case related to the DWP scandal, the state attorney on Wednesday announced a 30-day license suspension for Richard Thom, the city attorney who worked on the trial over the utility billing debacle.
Lawyers for the bar argued that Thom made “false and misleading statements” in court documents and depositions. Tom did not respond to a request for comment.
