SAN FRANCISCO—On Tuesday, January 2, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office disclosed that Van Zeng, a former employee of the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection, has been charged with three misdemeanor counts of having a financial conflict of interest in a government decision in violation of section 3.206(a) of the San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code. Zeng was arraigned on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty. His next court date has been set for Friday, February 23, for a pretrial conference.
“San Franciscans should expect our public employees to act with integrity and not engage in self-serving behavior,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. “My office is committed to rooting out employees who violate ethics laws and hold them accountable.”
San Francisco law prohibits a City and County employee from participating in making or seeking to influence a governmental decision where the employee has a financial interest.
As a building inspector, Zeng signed off on an inspection of his own home and inspections on two construction projects where his father’s company, Mutual Seiko construction, was the contractor. He worked for his father’s company until he started his employment with the City and County of San Francisco.
The case is being prosecuted by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office’s Public Integrity Task Force. If convicted, he faces up to a year in the county jail.
The case is still under investigation. Anyone with details is asked to call the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office’s Public Integrity Tip Line at 1-628-652-4444.
Feature Photo by Yuvraj Singh
