San Francisco Supervisor charged with bribery, extortion, mail and voter fraud!

There are some of us wondering how many more politicians will be caught with their hands in the cookie jar. In the past few years, quite a few of them seem making a mockery of the oath they took when they went into public service.

One of the San Francisco's own is being prosecuted for a host of fraud charges, including the fact that he himself committed voter fraud.

Karen Gullo at Bloomberg.com is reporting:

Ed Jew, a member of San Francisco's board of supervisors, was charged today with fraud, bribery and extortion for allegedly soliciting $80,000 from business owners in exchange for using his influence with the city's planning commission.

An indictment handed down today by a federal grand jury in San Francisco accuses Jew, 47, of soliciting bribes from Quickly tapioca drink shops in San Francisco, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California. In May, Jew accepted $40,000 in cash from Quickly representatives, prosecutors said.

SF Supervisor Ed Jew is also under investigation for committing voter fraud. SF Gate (Cecilia M. Vega, Jaxon Van Derbeken) reported in June:

Embattled San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew surrendered to Burlingame authorities Tuesday night after San Francisco's chief prosecutor filed criminal charges against him and issued a warrant for his arrest, saying the lawmaker lied about where he lives in order to run for office.

Jew, who turned himself in with his bail bondsman at his side, posted $135,000 bail and was released.

The arrest and felony charges bring to a head a City Hall scandal that has dogged the rookie supervisor ever since FBI agents last month raided his city office, his residences and his Chinatown flower shop.

Interestingly enough, Wikipedia has a very detailed write-up on the ongoing Ed Jew saga, here.

Bloomberg.com story, here.

SFGate.com story, here.