A California official who enforced the state’s liquor laws in Koreatown schemed with a businessman to shake down karaoke bar owners as part of a brazen ploy that went on for years, federal prosecutors alleged Friday.
Wilbur M. Salao, 46, and Scott Seo, 49, appeared in court earlier this week on an array of federal crimes stemming from the fraud allegations. Both men pleaded not guilty and were released on bond, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
The alleged con carried out by the men was detailed in a 26-page indictment handed down by a grand jury last month and unsealed this week.
Salao, a longtime employee of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, awarded valuable liquor licenses, directed investigations and meted out punishments to bar owners in Los Angeles’ Koreatown for several years until he left the agency in 2017, the indictment said.
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