Altadena Building Inspector Ensnared in FBI Bribery Sting

Two building inspectors employed by the City of Los Angeles, one of whom resides in Altadena, were arrested on federal bribery charges Friday morning after being snared in an FBI sting operation.

Raoul Joseph Germain, 59, of Altadena, allegedly accepted $6,000 in bribes from an undercover FBI agent.  Also arrested was Hugo Joel Gonzalez, 49, of Eagle Rock, who allegedly accepted $9,000 in bribes from an informant and an undercover agent.

Germain, who Department of Justice officials say is pictured at right, was released on a $100,000 bail bond Friday, while Gonzalez was held without bail, according to Thom Mrozek, a DOJ spokesman.

Both Germain and Gonzalez work on the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, which is responsible for inspection of construction projects in the city.

According to the criminal complaint, both inspectors were accused of taking bribes by a residential developer who had contact with both in the course of doing construction work in the city.  The informant, who is not named in the complaint, told the FBI that he had personally made 30 to 40 bribes to department inspectors.

Those bribes included paying for vacations for inspectors, buying materials at stores associated with the inspector, or doing construction work at the home of inspectors.

In exchange, the inspectors would forego actually physically inspecting any of the projects they were tasked with checking for compliance with city building codes.

German was approached by an undercover FBI agent who told him he was paying too much in bribes to another city inspector.  Germain then offered to sign off on inspection papers in return for $1,500, according to the complaint.

The FBI is asking that anyone with information about building inspectors or other officials accepting bribes in Los Angeles to contact the FBI by calling its local Field Office at (310) 477-656. DOJ officials said the case would be an important priority for the office.

“Corruption by any official further corrodes public confidence,” wrote United States Attorney André Birotte Jr in a press release. “In this case, two government employees directly threatened an important public safety mission by exploiting their positions to line their own pockets.”

Germain and Gonzalez could receive as much as 10 years in the case, according to the release.