Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Port of Oakland strip club scandal may uncover other misuse of public funds

Maritime Director James Kwon's $4,500 strip club outing for shipping executives may be the most scandalous recent example of misuse of public funds at the Port of Oakland, but unfortunately, the finding may lead to others.

Kwon also expensed $476 in haircuts, $1,000 in wine, and bills from massage parlors, golf outings and a $350 pair of Ecco golf shoes, according to a records search performed by KTVU-TV.

According to an undisclosed source of the San Francisco Chronicle, the port's Executive Director Omar Benjamin and commissioners were told in closed session that the port has "hundreds of thousands of dollars in questionable expenditures" by executives that span several years.

The source said: "The good news is that in the last couple of years they have put in stricter controls. The problem is, they have a lot of funky stuff from the past that is going to continue to haunt them."

It is also rumored that Kwan was not the only port official that attended the strip club outing in Houston.

Port commissioners ordered up an independent investigation Monday, but would not say what it would cover. Kwon is in China at a conference and was unavailable for comment.

For more of the San Francisco Chronicle story: sfgate.com

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