Questions remain as feds signal an end to DWP billing probe
LOS ANGELES — It was a shocking sight on a July morning in 2019: An FBI van parked outside Los Angeles City Hall and agents upstairs, scouring the headquarters of the city attorney's office.
The government was there to collect evidence in a complex criminal case growing out of a scandal that erupted years earlier at another powerful city agency, the Department of Water and Power.
A new DWP billing system rolled out in 2013 proved to be a costly debacle, as well as a huge political crisis for City Hall. Customers were flooded with outrageously inflated bills, including a Van Nuys couple charged nearly $52,000.
The city attorney's office, seeking to play the hero, swooped in. Federal prosecutors would later describe in charging documents how attorneys crafted a sham lawsuit over the faulty DWP bills and covered up their wrongdoing when the scheme unraveled. The charade has cost the city tens of millions of dollars in legal fees and other expenses.
The government probe uncovered other schemes, too. Four individuals pleaded guilty to various federal crimes, including a former high-level advisor to former City Atty. Mike Feuer, an and two top DWP officials, including
