FORMER CITY COMMISSIONER FACES ADDED FELONY CHARGE.

Byline: RICK ORLOV

Staff Writer

Former Los Angeles city commissioner Leland Wong, scheduled to be arraigned today on bribery and conflict-of-interest charges, was charged Thursday with a new felony.

Wong, a private consultant who was once an airport commissioner, has been charged with conflict of interest in connection with allegedly voting on a concession contract at Los Angeles International Airport, officials said.

His vote as a commissioner came at the same time he also was seeking a business deal with the concession owner, officials said.

Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman said the new charges came out of a continuing investigation into Wong's activities while he was a city commissioner.

The case involves a vote Wong made on behalf of concessionaire W.H. Smith while Wong was pursing a business venture with the company's executives to market duty-free services in Asia.

"Leland Wong abused the public's trust through a variety of 'pay-to-play' schemes that our office continues to uncover," District Attorney Steve Cooley said. "We will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute these cases."

Attorneys for Wong downplayed the impact of the new charge.

"This is just a rehash of old, discarded claims," attorney Janet I. Levine said in a statement. "At best, it is a prosecutor's version of a 'summer rerun.' There are no new facts, no justification for this new charge and nothing about it shores up the weak case we have been fighting in court."

Pay-to-play accusations have dogged the administration of former Mayor James Hahn, with allegations that commissioners were using their positions to get campaign contributions on Hahn's behalf.

Wong previously has been accused of bribery, conflict of interest and perjury in a grand jury indictment that said he received a $100,000 payment from an executive at Evergreen Shipping in 2002 when he served on the Airport Commission and voted on a contract for the firm.

Wong has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

The newest case developed from Wong's service on the Airport Commission from 2001 to 2003. In December 2002, Huntsman said, Wong voted on amendments to a contract held by W.H. Smith for retail concessions at LAX.

At the same time, officials said, Wong was pursuing a business venture with W.H. Smith CEO Sean Anderson and Benny Klepach, a W.H. Smith subcontractor, to market duty-free services in Asia using Wong's connections.

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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