A Mission Viejo resident and former Vice President of Operations for the Mission Viejo Company was named today in an indictment filed by Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco. Robert E. Osborne, President of Osborne Development Company, was one of nine individuals charged with conspiring to launder campaign funds into campaign committees. Four of the individuals charged are City Council members, including the Mayor, for the City of San Jacinto, a fast growing community east of Riverside.
The Riverside Press Enterprise reported that Osborne allegedly participated in illegally returning tens of thousands of dollars to campaign contributors of a San Jacinto councilman and hiding the true source of the contributions. Further information has been embargoed by the D.A. until after his 4 pm news conference today (Friday). The Dispatch will update this article if more facts become available.
The Press-Enterprise reports the investigation spanned 18 months and included interviews of over 120 people by a special criminal grand jury. The inquiry is still continuing according to D.A. Pacheco: “This is massive not only in its raw number of dollars, but also in the people who were involved in this,” he said. “We are not talking about just nine people. We are talking about a lot more people that were involved with this in small ways, medium ways, and large ways.”
Osborne Development’s website cites it’s founders 40 years in the homebuilding business, showing four projects in the San Jacinto area. The Dispatch contacted the Osborne offices but was advised Mr. Osborne had “no comment.” His resume includes:
- Former V.P. Operations at the Mission Viejo Company
- Former V.P. Operations at Irvine Pacific/Irvine Company
- Former V.P. Operations at Arnel Development Corporation
- President/Founder of Robert E. Osborne Corporation
- President/Founder of Osborne Development Corporation
- Former Board Member of the Orange County Building Industry Assn (BIA)
The nine defendants appeared in court yesterday. All pleaded not guilty or entered no plea.
