United States Attorney Scott N. Schools announced Tuesday that a federal grand jury in San Francisco has indicted Supervisor Edmund Jew on charges of mail fraud, bribery, and extortion in connection with an alleged scheme to solicit cash bribes from two tapioca drink shops which had licensing issues with the San Francisco city government.

"Today’s indictment alleges that an elected representative of city government corruptly traded on his good office," Schools said.

SLIDESHOW: The Players In The Ed Jew Case
The indictment alleges that Jew solicited cash bribes totaling $80,000 from various San Francisco franchises of the Quickly chain.

The chain sells milk tea and tapioca beverages.

The indictment further charges that on May 7, 2007, Mr. Jew accepted $40,000 in cash from Quickly representatives as a partial payment.

According to the indictment, Jew referred the Quickly franchises to the San Francisco Planning Department in an effort to assist the owner of a rival tapioca-drink shop.

According to the indictment, Jew then met with Quickly representatives, informed them that they were in violation San Francisco’s Formula Retail Ordinance, and asked them to make cash payments in exchange for assistance with the city permitting process.

Jew also remains on the hot seat over his place of residence. He still faces nine felony charges accusing him of using a fake address in San Francisco.

Mayor Gavin Newsom suspended Jew from the Board on Sept. 25 on charges of official misconduct involving his residency outside the district.

Jew has previously said he intended to live in a house at 2450 28th Avenue in the Sunset District, while city lawyers have contended that house was essentially vacant and that Jew lived in Burlingame when running for office and until May of this year.

Also, last week the city attorney of San Francisco filed a lawsuit seeking to remove Ed Jew from the Board of Supervisors.

City Attorney Dennis Herrera said the action alleges that Jew failed to meet residency requirements to seek or hold city office.

The city charter requires that a member of the Board of Supervisors live in the area of the city that he or she represents.

In June 2007, Herrera sought permission to sue Jew using a legal procedure to remove individuals from public office that requires approval from the state attorney general as a guard against frivolous or politically-motivated lawsuits.

Read Tuesday's Federal Indictment (Verbatim)

SAN FRANCISCO – United States Attorney Scott N. Schools announced that a federal grand jury in San Francisco today indicted Supervisor Edmund Jew on charges of mail fraud, bribery, and extortion in connection with an alleged scheme to solicit cash bribes from two tapioca drink shops which had licensing issues with the San Francisco city government.

"Today’s indictment alleges that an elected representative of city government corruptly traded on his good office," U.S. Attorney Schools said. "The public places a tremendous amount of trust in its elected representatives by voting them into office, and elected officials who violate that trust for personal gain must be held accountable for their actions."

"When public servants betray the people's trust for the sake of personal gain, they deeply wound the democratic principles upon which this society is founded," said Charlene B. Thornton, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI's San Francisco Division. "It is a victory for our community when the deeds done in darkness are exposed to the harsh light of day. We hope that today's charges illustrate the seriousness with which the FBI takes allegations of public corruption at all levels."

The indictment alleges that Mr. Jew, 47, solicited cash bribes totaling $80,000 from various San Francisco franchises of the Quickly chain, which sells milk tea and tapioca beverages. The indictment further charges that on May 7, 2007, Mr. Jew accepted $40,000 in cash from Quickly representatives as a partial payment.

According to the indictment, Mr. Jew referred the Quickly franchises to the San Francisco Planning Department in an effort to assist the owner of a rival tapioca-drink shop. Mr. Jew then allegedly met with Quickly representatives, informed them that they were in violation San Francisco’s Formula Retail Ordinance, and asked them to make cash payments in exchange for assistance with the city permitting process.

The indictment alleges that as part of Mr. Jew's efforts to convince the Quickly franchises to enter into a paying arrangement with Mr. Jew and a consultant he had recommended, Mr. Jew agreed to perform numerous official acts to exert influence on the San Francisco Planning Department and the San Francisco Planning Commission in connection with their consideration of the Quickly franchises' application for a permit under the Formula Retail Ordinance.

The indictment further alleges that Mr. Jew accepted a $4,000 cash payment from the owner of Wonderful Desserts & Cafe after taking official actions to influence the San Francisco Planning Department and the San Francisco Planning Commission in their consideration of Wonderful Desserts & Café’s application for a permit to operate as a sit-down establishment.

Residents of the Sunset District in San Francisco elected Mr. Jew to the Board of Supervisors on November 7, 2006, and Mr. Jew was sworn into office on December 5, 2006.

In the indictment, the grand jury charged Mr. Jew with a total of five criminal violations, including the following:

Two counts of using the mails in furtherance of a scheme to deprive the people of the Sunset District and the City and County of San Francisco, as well as the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, of Mr. Jew’s honest services as a member of the Board of Supervisors, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1346;

Two counts of bribery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B); and

One count of extortion under color of official right, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a).

The maximum statutory penalty for mail fraud and extortion under color of official right is 20 years imprisonment and a three-year term of supervised release. The maximum statutory penalty for bribery is 10 years imprisonment and a three-year term of supervised release. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence.

Mr. Jew is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment before United States Magistrate Judge Bernard Zimmerman on November 7, 2007, at 9:30 a.m. in San Francisco.

An indictment contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Mr. Jew must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Assistant United States Attorneys Tracie L. Brown and Michael Li-Ming Wang are prosecuting the case, with the assistance of Ana Guerra, Wilson Wong and Helen Yee. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, led by Special Agent J. Christopher McDonough.

Further Information:

Case #: CR 07–0705 SI