Second ex-DWP executive agrees to plead guilty in corruption case

A 2nd erstwhile Los Angeles Department of Water and Power enforcement has agreed to plead blameworthy to a national transgression complaint successful the ongoing probe of the city’s handling of the botched motorboat of a DWP billing system, national prosecutors announced Monday, Dec. 13.

David F. Alexander, 54, of Arcadia, volition plead blameworthy successful downtown Los Angeles connected a day to beryllium determined to a felony complaint of making mendacious statements. Alexander was DWP’s main accusation information serviceman from May 2017 until February 2019, and past served arsenic the department’s main cyber hazard serviceman for the adjacent six months.

It was not instantly known if Alexander had retained counsel.

Last week, a erstwhile DWP wide manager, David H. Wright, 62, of Riverside, agreed to plead blameworthy to a national bribery complaint successful the case. On Nov. 29, Paul Paradis, 58, a New York lawyer hired by the city, besides agreed to plead blameworthy to a bribery number successful the concealed strategy to settee a large suit brought against the inferior connected presumption favorable to the city.

Alexander knew Paradis, who was representing DWP successful a suit against the vendor the inferior blamed for the billing debacle. In 2017, Paradis created a downtown Los Angeles-based institution known arsenic Aventador Utility Solutions, which obtained a three-year, $30 cardinal no-bid declaration with DWP to execute remediation enactment connected the faulty billing system. Aventador besides performed definite cybersecurity-related enactment for DWP.

In March 2019, Paradis — who simultaneously represented a ratepayer suing DWP and the section itself — resigned arsenic peculiar counsel for DWP’s billing suit and, aboriginal that month, allegedly sold Aventador to an employee. Aventador past changed its sanction to Ardent Cyber Solutions, and Paradis was to person nary fiscal involvement successful oregon power implicit the Aventador oregon its successor company.

A period earlier, the Southern California Public Power Authority — a corporate of 11 municipal utilities, including DWP — had issued a connection petition for a cybersecurity services declaration astatine the behest of Wright, DWP’s then-general manager. Alexander, the proposal’s superior writer, was 1 of 4 members of the scoring committee for the powerfulness authority’s request. The committee was liable for presenting its scores and recommendations to the SCPPA’s cybersecurity moving group.

Alexander knew the process was intended to beryllium a competitive, neutral and transparent, but manipulated the strategy with the extremity of securing aboriginal cybersecurity enactment for Aventador, and, later, Ardent.

According to national prosecutors, Alexander utilized his presumption arsenic the DWP’s main cyber hazard serviceman and vice-chair of the SCPPA’s cyber information radical to power the constitution of the scoring committee to see radical whom helium could transportation to fertile Ardent favorably.

After the cybersecurity radical informed Ardent that it would urge the institution for the SCPPA contract, Alexander met with Paradis, who by that clip was covertly cooperating with the FBI.

During the meeting, Alexander told the lawyer that helium had utilized the SCPPA bidding process to get DWP’s “desired outcome,” that is, a declaration with Ardent, but successful a mode that falsely appeared “completely transparent.” Alexander besides boasted that helium was the 1 who had secured the declaration for Ardent, informing Paradis, “that was maine driving it,” according to tribunal documents.

The SCPPA committee approved a multi-award declaration for Ardent and 2 different vendors valued astatine a full of $17 million. In June and July of 2019, Alexander further manipulated successful Ardent’s favour a connection process from DWP for the grant of a three-year, $82.5 cardinal cybersecurity consulting services contract.

Alexander aboriginal solicited and agreed to judge from Paradis a aboriginal occupation arsenic the main administrative serviceman of Ardent, a to-be-determined executive-level salary, a sign-on bonus, and recompense of $60,000 per twelvemonth for 30 years for his aboriginal status punishment from DWP. Alexander did truthful intending to beryllium influenced and rewarded successful transportation with his ongoing assistance successful securing the grant of a multimillion-dollar DWP declaration to Ardent and usage of his presumption to warrant much than $10 cardinal successful aboriginal task orders for Ardent nether the anticipated DWP contract.

On July 22, 2019, the FBI executed hunt warrants astatine DWP arsenic portion of its ongoing probe into the section and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. Two days aboriginal during a voluntary interview, Alexander lied to the FBI astir his conversations and agreements with Paradis. Days later, Alexander met again with the FBI and again lied, falsely stating that helium had declined immoderate employment accidental with Ardent and that helium had ne'er provided immoderate guarantees to Ardent oregon Paradis.

Paradis has agreed to plead blameworthy to a bribery complaint for accepting an illicit kickback of astir $2.2 cardinal for getting different lawyer to purportedly correspond his ratepayer lawsuit successful a collusive suit against DWP related to the billing debacle. Paradis is cooperating with the ongoing probe into corruption astatine DWP and is expected to marque his archetypal national tribunal quality connected Thursday.

Wright volition plead blameworthy to a national transgression complaint for accepting bribes from Paradis successful speech for his authoritative enactment to unafraid the $30 cardinal no-bid declaration for Aventador. His change-of-plea proceeding is expected successful the coming weeks.