An explosive report in November accused Sheriff Christina Corpus and her department’s leadership of misconduct.
San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus listens to public comment next to Undersheriff Dan Perea at the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors special meeting in Redwood City, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. The County Supervisors were considering seeking Sheriff Christina Corpus’s resignation. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
More than a month before San Mateo County released an explosive report into Sheriff Christina Corpus and her department’s leadership, an email obtained by the Bay Area News Group confirms for the first time that county officials have been in touch with the FBI amid allegations of widespread misconduct in the department.
Rumors had been swirling for months that the FBI was interested in the Sheriff’s Office. In September, County Executive Mike Callagy, at the FBI’s request, forwarded to the agency a copy of a lease for a Redwood City property rented by the Sheriff’s Office. The lease was attached to the email obtained by the Bay Area News Group through a public records request.
In an interview Tuesday, Callagy declined to discuss in detail the brief email or any other communication with the FBI. He said he had not been contacted again by a federal agent.
“I was asked for the documents, and I sent the documents,” he said.
The department began leasing the Redwood City property at 686-690 Broadway in September 2023 with the intention of opening a new substation with a childcare center for Sheriff’s Office staff. Those plans have yet to materialize, even as the county continues to be on the hook for at least $36,000 in monthly rental payments.
The report into Corpus, conducted by an independent auditor at the county’s request, claimed that Corpus’ former chief of staff, Victor Aenlle, her alleged boyfriend, had a conflict of interest in negotiating the lease because he was both a county employee and a licensed real estate agent with the company that brokered the deal.
However, the real estate company listed as the broker on the lease, CBRE, an abbreviation of Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis, is a separate entity from Coldwell Banker Real Estate, where Aenlle is listed as an agent.
On Tuesday, the report’s author, retired Judge LaDoris Cordell, acknowledged the error but made clear she stands by her findings.
“In my view, it does not change any conclusion I’ve arrived at in the report,” she said.
In addition to raising concerns over the real estate deal, the report found Corpus had an inappropriate relationship with Aenlle, retaliated against officers and employees she and Aenlle deemed disloyal, and used racist and homophobic slurs in the workplace, among other allegations against the pair, including improperly possessing rifles with silencers.
Aenlle blasted Cordell for the mistake, arguing it shows the report is a “targeted hit piece.” Aenlle said he has not been contacted by the FBI — whose interest in the property predated the release of Cordell’s report — nor did he have any direct knowledge of a potential FBI investigation into the Sheriff’s Office.
County officials eliminated Aenlle’s civilian position as Corpus’s chief of staff after releasing the report.
“This is the county government using their weight to step on people,” Aenlle said. “It is a tool of evil.”
In response to questions about the email and a possible investigation, the FBI said in an email: “Per FBI policy we cannot confirm or deny the existence of any specific investigation.”
In a statement, the Sheriff’s Office said, “Sheriff Christina Corpus has indicated that she is not aware of any FBI investigation into the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office or its employees.”
The news of the FBI’s interest in the deal comes as San Mateo County voters prepare to decide on a March 4 ballot measure that would grant the county Board of Supervisors power to remove Corpus, an elected official, from her post.
Supervisors, who put the measure on the ballot, have cited Cordell’s 400-page report as justification for the need to oust Corpus.
Corpus, the county’s first Latina sheriff, and Aenlle have forcefully denied all allegations in the report, dismissing them as a pretext for a politically motivated “coup” orchestrated by officials threatened by her effort to overhaul a department she says is in desperate need of reform.
Rumors of a federal investigation into Corpus and Aenlle have been circulating widely among local officials since the report was made public on Nov. 12. Corpus, the top law enforcement official in the county, is responsible for overseeing the county jail and hundreds of sworn and civilian personnel.
The FBI’s interest in the lease follows a number of high-profile federal investigations into Bay Area officials in recent years. In Oakland, federal prosecutors secured an indictment against former Mayor Sheng Thao last month after the FBI raided her home as part of a corruption probe. Federal agents have also investigated police misconduct in Antioch and Pittsburg and corruption among city agencies in San Francisco.
Before producing the Sept. 27 email to this news organization, officials redacted the names of two county employees referenced by Callagy.
In the brief email, Callagy wrote, “I understand, but can’t confirm, the alarm on the building came from” one of the employees whose name was redacted. On Tuesday, Callagy said he could not remember the “alarm” he was referring to.
The Cordell report notes multiple complaints were lodged about Aenlle’s potential conflict of interest in negotiating the property deal.
While Cordell’s allegation that Aenlle worked with the company that brokered the deal was incorrect, the report also claims that when a Sheriff’s Office employee suggested to Aenlle that they attempt to negotiate a lower rental price with the owner, Aenlle told the employee doing so “wasn’t a good move.”
Additionally, the employee explained to Cordell that the lease requires the county to pay all of the property owner’s expenses. That includes property taxes, insurance and all maintenance, adding at least $9,000 to the monthly rent, according to the report.
Aenlle denied that he was directly involved in negotiations over the deal.
Attempts to reach the owner of the Redwood City property, DiNapoli Family LP, were not successful. Evan Chang, a CBRE agent listed on the lease agreement, declined to answer questions about the deal.
The report also accuses Aenlle of having bypassed county protocols for selecting a construction contractor to renovate the property. The Sheriff’s Office employee told Cordell that Aenlle rushed “the construction/renovation process for the property, so that there (was) insufficient time to properly execute” the required bidding process.
Aenlle admitted there was an administrative error early in the process but said that he worked with county employees to fix the mistake quickly.
As to why renovations on the building still haven’t gotten underway, Aenlle blamed county officials for intentionally slow-walking the renovation plans. The Sheriff’s Office said the Board of Supervisors has yet to take the necessary vote that would allow for the construction work to begin.
Callagy pointed the finger at the Sheriff’s Office, claiming that it has not provided a thorough plan to remake the property into a substation and daycare center.
For now, Aenlle said the property is currently being used for community meetings and Sheriff’s Office events.
When the report was released in November, Cordell estimated the county had spent around $572,000 to lease the site.
More than a month before San Mateo County released an explosive report into Sheriff Christina Corpus and her department’s leadership, an email obtained by the Bay Area News Group confirms for the first time that county officials have been in touch with the FBI amid allegations of widespread misconduct in the department.
Rumors had been swirling for months that the FBI was interested in the Sheriff’s Office. In September, County Executive Mike Callagy, at the FBI’s request, forwarded to the agency a copy of a lease for a Redwood City property rented by the Sheriff’s Office. The lease was attached to the email obtained by the Bay Area News Group through a public records request.
In an interview Tuesday, Callagy declined to discuss in detail the brief email or any other communication with the FBI. He said he had not been contacted again by a federal agent.
“I was asked for the documents, and I sent the documents,” he said.
The department began leasing the Redwood City property at 686-690 Broadway in September 2023 with the intention of opening a new substation with a childcare center for Sheriff’s Office staff. Those plans have yet to materialize, even as the county continues to be on the hook for at least $36,000 in monthly rental payments.
The report into Corpus, conducted by an independent auditor at the county’s request, claimed that Corpus’ former chief of staff, Victor Aenlle, her alleged boyfriend, had a conflict of interest in negotiating the lease because he was both a county employee and a licensed real estate agent with the company that brokered the deal.
However, the real estate company listed as the broker on the lease, CBRE, an abbreviation of Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis, is a separate entity from Coldwell Banker Real Estate, where Aenlle is listed as an agent.
On Tuesday, the report’s author, retired Judge LaDoris Cordell, acknowledged the error but made clear she stands by her findings.
“In my view, it does not change any conclusion I’ve arrived at in the report,” she said.
In addition to raising concerns over the real estate deal, the report found Corpus had an inappropriate relationship with Aenlle, retaliated against officers and employees she and Aenlle deemed disloyal, and used racist and homophobic slurs in the workplace, among other allegations against the pair, including improperly possessing rifles with silencers.
Aenlle blasted Cordell for the mistake, arguing it shows the report is a “targeted hit piece.” Aenlle said he has not been contacted by the FBI — whose interest in the property predated the release of Cordell’s report — nor did he have any direct knowledge of a potential FBI investigation into the Sheriff’s Office.
County officials eliminated Aenlle’s civilian position as Corpus’s chief of staff after releasing the report.
“This is the county government using their weight to step on people,” Aenlle said. “It is a tool of evil.”
In response to questions about the email and a possible investigation, the FBI said in an email: “Per FBI policy we cannot confirm or deny the existence of any specific investigation.”
In a statement, the Sheriff’s Office said, “Sheriff Christina Corpus has indicated that she is not aware of any FBI investigation into the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office or its employees.”
The news of the FBI’s interest in the deal comes as San Mateo County voters prepare to decide on a March 4 ballot measure that would grant the county Board of Supervisors power to remove Corpus, an elected official, from her post.
Supervisors, who put the measure on the ballot, have cited Cordell’s 400-page report as justification for the need to oust Corpus.
Corpus, the county’s first Latina sheriff, and Aenlle have forcefully denied all allegations in the report, dismissing them as a pretext for a politically motivated “coup” orchestrated by officials threatened by her effort to overhaul a department she says is in desperate need of reform.
Rumors of a federal investigation into Corpus and Aenlle have been circulating widely among local officials since the report was made public on Nov. 12. Corpus, the top law enforcement official in the county, is responsible for overseeing the county jail and hundreds of sworn and civilian personnel.
The FBI’s interest in the lease follows a number of high-profile federal investigations into Bay Area officials in recent years. In Oakland, federal prosecutors secured an indictment against former Mayor Sheng Thao last month after the FBI raided her home as part of a corruption probe. Federal agents have also investigated police misconduct in Antioch and Pittsburg and corruption among city agencies in San Francisco.
Before producing the Sept. 27 email to this news organization, officials redacted the names of two county employees referenced by Callagy.
In the brief email, Callagy wrote, “I understand, but can’t confirm, the alarm on the building came from” one of the employees whose name was redacted. On Tuesday, Callagy said he could not remember the “alarm” he was referring to.
The Cordell report notes multiple complaints were lodged about Aenlle’s potential conflict of interest in negotiating the property deal.
While Cordell’s allegation that Aenlle worked with the company that brokered the deal was incorrect, the report also claims that when a Sheriff’s Office employee suggested to Aenlle that they attempt to negotiate a lower rental price with the owner, Aenlle told the employee doing so “wasn’t a good move.”
Additionally, the employee explained to Cordell that the lease requires the county to pay all of the property owner’s expenses. That includes property taxes, insurance and all maintenance, adding at least $9,000 to the monthly rent, according to the report.
Aenlle denied that he was directly involved in negotiations over the deal.
Attempts to reach the owner of the Redwood City property, DiNapoli Family LP, were not successful. Evan Chang, a CBRE agent listed on the lease agreement, declined to answer questions about the deal.
The report also accuses Aenlle of having bypassed county protocols for selecting a construction contractor to renovate the property. The Sheriff’s Office employee told Cordell that Aenlle rushed “the construction/renovation process for the property, so that there (was) insufficient time to properly execute” the required bidding process.
Aenlle admitted there was an administrative error early in the process but said that he worked with county employees to fix the mistake quickly.
As to why renovations on the building still haven’t gotten underway, Aenlle blamed county officials for intentionally slow-walking the renovation plans. The Sheriff’s Office said the Board of Supervisors has yet to take the necessary vote that would allow for the construction work to begin.
Callagy pointed the finger at the Sheriff’s Office, claiming that it has not provided a thorough plan to remake the property into a substation and daycare center.
For now, Aenlle said the property is currently being used for community meetings and Sheriff’s Office events.
When the report was released in November, Cordell estimated the county had spent around $572,000 to lease the site.
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