Here is the Riverside County District Attorney’s account of events leading up to the criminal charges announced Tuesday, May 17.
Early 1990s: Beaumont brought in Urban Logic Consultants principals David Dillon, Ernest Egger, and Deepak Moorjani to lead its planning, economic development, and public works departments. Alan Kapanicas was named city manager, William Aylward was finance director, and Joseph Akulfi was city attorney.
Prosecutors allege they used their positions to funnel work to their own companies.
Charges: Dillon, Egger, and Moorjani are charged with violating the government code for advising the city to issue new bonds while at the same time making payments to their own company out of the money generated from the bond sales.
That code prohibits public officials from participating in the making of a contract in which they have a financial interest.
2003: The city adopted an ordinance mandating collection of the Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fee on all new development.
Under the law adopted by the city, the fee was required to be sent to the Western Riverside Council of Governments to be pooled with fees from other areas of Riverside County and used on regional transportation projects.
The defendants are accused of failing to give the money to the regional program as required. Instead, evidence shows they controlled the TUMF fees and used the money on projects in Beaumont, awarding the work to their own companies, prosecutors alleged.
They are accused of manipulating documents and making misrepresentations to the western council to illegally maintain $36,606,190 in collected TUMF fees.
Charges: Dillon, Egger, Moorjani, Kapanicas, Aylward, and Aklufi are charged with multiple counts of embezzlement of public funds by a public officer, as well as an aggravated white collar crime enhancement and an enhancement for excessive loss.
2010 to 2013: Prosecutors allege that Kapanicas, Aylward, and Francis Coe, Beaumont’s police chief at the time, created a way to loan then-Chief Coe $45,000 in city money, interest free.
The defendants loaned $113,773 of city money — interest free — to members of the Beaumont Police Department, prosecutors allege. They never asked the Beaumont City Council for approval of these loans, it is alleged.
Charges: Kapanicas, Aylward, and Coe are charged with conspiracy and misappropriation of public funds for lending the public’s money in a manner not authorized by law.
2009 to 2015: Kapanicas and Aylward falsely inflated sales tax in Beaumont by lending the city’s resale tax permit to a private business, Beaumont Electric, prosecutors say.
The scheme required that the defendants lend city funds to Beaumont Electric to buy electrical equipment. The private company was never required to sign a contract, never required to agree to any terms for the timely repayment of the debt, and never required to pay any interest.
The defendants never asked the City Council for approval before loaning $6,247,458.86 of city money to a private company, the district attorney’s office alleges.
Charges: Kapanicas and Aylward are charged with conspiracy and misappropriation of public funds for misusing the public’s money.