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Ex-controller says Sempra paid bribes in Mexico - SignOnSanDiego.com

"...The company told The Watchdog the $8,200 payment was a bond required by authorities “as a guarantee for any damages suffered by Sanchez Ritchie for being removed from the property.”

The company provided a receipt from the attorney general's office for the payment.

“Any allegations about bribery are absolutely false,” Kline said.

Michelon said he delivered the cash to Sempra Energy Mexico executive Alex Rios. Michelon provided internal documents that he says support his claim. He sent his bosses at Sempra an e-mail on Sept. 16, 2006, with a two-word subject line and no further explanation.

“Have cash,” it read.

Within an hour, Michael Allman, the Sempra Global chief financial officer, wrote back, “Was delivery effectively executed?” Minutes after that, Sempra attorney Robert Borthwick responded to Allman, Michelon and to Mark Fisher, another senior Sempra executive.

“I just spoke to Alex. He is on his way to Ensenada. He confirmed that this will happen today but said that we have to wait until the AG’s office tells us they are ready,” Borthwick wrote.

That night, Mexican state police evicted Sanchez Ritchie from the disputed property.

Internal Sempra e-mails show company executives approved a $22,000 bonus to fund a vacation for Rios in the days after the eviction...

...“If Sempra wants to claim Ritchie(sic) and Michelon are just making this stuff up, maybe they should explain, for a start, the ‘have cash’ e-mail and the fact they had to give Ritchie’s land back,”..."

Business ethics. Almost as bad an oxymoron as political ethics...

Didn't Reagan make these expenses tax deductible?

What did they do wrong... aren't all real estate transaction done in this fashion....

Can't be... just look how secure all of the Billions of other real estate transaction have been around the world ...

Originally Posted by DENNIS

Didn't Reagan make these expenses tax deductible?

Now I remember what it was. He wanted, and got, tax deductions for US businesses starting up in Mexico and confronted with the never ending mordida of the day.
Even Reagan was facilitating an exodus of business from the states.
It all started with my man, Ronnie.

Just wondering why this actor who obviously went through many years of mental decline, would be your man. Too bad that he was already in decline when he became president. The bastard put California on a road to ruin. Same guy was a union chief back in the day, Tell me why a rich liberal would all of a sudden embrace right wing philosophy. Brain damage?

Originally Posted by Bajahowodd

Tell me why a rich liberal would all of a sudden embrace right wing philosophy. Brain damage?

He was only liberal when he ran the Screen Actors Guild. It was a requirement along with praising God on Saturday.
I don't know why I liked him. I guess it was because I didn't like the other people who didn't like him.
That and Bonzo.

Originally Posted by DENNIS

I don't know why I liked him. I guess it was because I didn't like the other people who didn't like him.
That and Bonzo.

Originally Posted by Bajahowodd

Just wondering why this actor who obviously went through many years of mental decline, would be your man. Too bad that he was already in decline when he became president. The bastard put California on a road to ruin. Same guy was a union chief back in the day, Tell me why a rich liberal would all of a sudden embrace right wing philosophy. Brain damage?

C'mon -- even before the dementia, he was not exactly an Einstein.

It's all about the guy behind the curtain and the handlers. Parallels to GWB?

Having raw intelligence, or even refined intelligence; having the most thorough education, does not reflect on the success of a presidency. Perhaps the most intelligent president of my life time was Jimmy Carter. Y'all know what people think of his record.

Originally Posted by Bajahowodd

Perhaps the most intelligent president of my life time was Jimmy Carter. Y'all know what people think of his record.

Yeah...he was an inspiration, wasn't he.
I fondly remember the time he flew to Mexico City to be greeted by, I think it was President Escheveria, who gave Carter a public tongue-lashing right on the Tarmac.
Instead of getting back on AF-1 and leaving, he took his turn at the mic and made a joke about drinking the water in Mexico.
A dazzling moment in statesmanship that will probably miss the memoirs.

Carter was book smart but no street smarts. That is why he had so many great ideas but no clue as to the way things really work in Washington or how to get things done.

Reagen could deliver a speech as good as any and however smart/dumb you think he was, the art of communicating was his greatest tool and he definitely used it well...

Good thing we didn't listen to Carter about sustainability and energy independence.

We sure showed those hippys; didn't we?

Originally Posted by SOD

Good thing we didn't listen to Carter about sustainability and energy independence.

We sure showed those hippys; didn't we?

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

Carter was book smart but no street smarts. That is why he had so many great ideas but no clue as to the way things really work in Washington or how to get things done.

Reagen could deliver a speech as good as any and however smart/dumb you think he was, the art of communicating was his greatest tool and he definitely used it well...

I think you can change the name/location and apply the first quote to just about every fire chief (except one) that I've ever worked for.

Originally Posted by BigWooo

I think you can change the name/location and apply the first quote to just about every fire chief (except one) that I've ever worked for.

I spent more than a couple of years going to school in downtown Long Beach as a kid. They were tough but the street lessons I learned taught me more about life than anything I ever learned in a classroom...

Poor Jimmy... he was telling everyone what they did not want to hear....

1979 Jimmy to the Nation on Television....

"In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we’ve discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We’ve learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose."

Material progress and a higher standard of living bring us greater comfort and health, but do not lead to a transformation of the mind, which is the only thing capable of providing lasting peace. Profound happiness, unlike fleeting pleasures, is spiritual in nature. It depends on the happiness of others and it is based on love and affection.

Dalai Lama