In our community we have a history and a culture of fairness and integrity in our public institutions and our public officials. We believe that we are called to a higher standard.

Our elected officials and public institutions should reflect the highest ethical standards.

They should always operate in the public interest, not represent special interests.

Our public policy is not for sale to the highest bidder, nor should our public officials ever be in a position where they owe their office to one or two large contributors with special interests.

That is why there is no “small case” when it comes to ethics in our public institutions.

In Seattle, an allegation of unethical conduct in a public institution is a front page story where in other cities it might not even warrant a mention on the back page.

That is our history. That is our culture. That should make us proud.

Our tradition of integrity in public office is reflected in the laws that govern political campaigns.

The people of this state passed by initiative in 1972 the Public Disclosure Act that made sure that all financial contributions to candidates would be fully and publicly disclosed, and that financial contributions would be capped with modest limits, so that no single interest could buy an election.

The City of Seattle established its own code of conduct and built an Ethics and Elections Commission to act as a watchdog over campaigns for office.

We are here today to announce the conclusions of our investigation into campaign finance irregularities stemming from the Seattle City Council races of 2003.

This matter was referred to us by the City of Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission after their preliminary investigation revealed that some contributors to council candidates appeared to have been reimbursed for those donations by one or more third parties.

Our additional investigation has led us to conclude, and allege, that there was a conspiracy to cover up the true source of campaign contributions to three incumbent City Council candidates.

Today, I am announcing the filing of charges against Frank Colacurcio, Sr. and his son, Frank Colacurcio, Jr., and two of their close associates and employees, Gil Conte, and Marsha Furfaro.

They are charged with conspiring to file false campaign financial reports and with causing the campaigns to file eight false reports. This conspiracy was centered around enterprises operated by the Colacurcio family.

We are accusing the defendants of channeling thousands of dollars of campaign contributions illegally through third parties, then reimbursing those third parties to cover up both the source of the contribution and the total amount of the contributions actually made by the defendants.

In the fall of 2002, the Seattle City Council had before it a zoning issue involving an application from the owners of Rick’s, a Lake City strip club, to expand their parking lot.

The permit had been denied several times before, and the owners of Rick’s, Frank Colacurcio Sr. and his son Frank Colacurcio Jr., had been fined for illegally developing more parking on their property without City approval.

In July of 2003 the City Council approved the re-zone of Rick’s parking lot by a 5-4 vote.

At this same time, several of the Seattle Council members were engaged in campaigns for re-election, including Heidi Wills, Jim Compton and Judy Nicastro.

These candidates were subject to the requirements of the Public Disclosure Act and the Seattle Elections Code, including the duty to report the source and amount of every financial contribution to their campaign.

The defendants recruited individuals to write checks for campaign contributions to various city council candidates. In most cases, the checks were written for the maximum limit allowed by law.

The defendants would then provide cash reimbursements to the individuals who wrote the checks for the campaign contributions.

In effect, the defendants engaged in “political money laundering”.

By hiding the true source of the contributions and the true amount of the contributions, the defendants caused the Council member candidates to file false documents with both the city and the state agencies that oversee elections.

RCW 40.16.030* makes it a felony to knowingly file or cause to be filed any false instrument in any public office. RCW 9A.08.020* provides that a person is guilty of a crime if he/she causes an innocent person to engage in unlawful conduct.

The actions of the defendants, by causing the candidates to file false documents, is a violation of these statutes.

We have uncovered no evidence that the Council members or their campaigns were aware of this conspiracy to channel funds from a single source through multiple contributors.

The criminal statutes that we have utilized in this case are not found in the Public Disclosure Act. That Act, which was the product of a citizens’ initiative, has no criminal sanctions.

It is time to ask the State Legislature to modify the Public Disclosure Act to allow for criminal sanctions for violations of the Act. Knowingly filing false reports or causing them to be filed is a crime under the general criminal statutes, but it should also be specifically set forth as a crime under the Public Disclosure Act. Modifying the Act will better ensure our history and culture of fairness and integrity in our public offices and institutions.

Political money laundering is a crime, and will not be tolerated.

More Information: Charges Filed in Political Money Laundering Case

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Dated: July 12, 2005