The mayor of Lancaster, California, R. Rex Parris, revealed that city officials have been under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in connection with the Chinese automotive brand BYD. He stated that the raids conducted this week in the greater Los Angeles area were also part of an investigation into Chinese Communist Party influence transactions.
Mayor Parris, in an interview with the Los Angeles Daily News on July 30th (Thursday), said the FBI’s raids had a common theme – Beijing’s attempts to acquire local projects through gift-giving and bribing of internal personnel.
The 74-year-old Parris pointed out that the FBI is investigating the operations of the BYD bus company, supported by the Chinese government, in Lancaster, as well as numerous charity projects sponsored by the city and other institutions.
According to Parris, FBI agents arrived in the northern suburbs of Los Angeles County in April, seizing the phones of some city hall officials and community members, extracting communication records of target individuals, searching for evidence of corruption. The mayor also revealed that the computer data of an investigated city council member was copied or mirrored by the FBI in their city hall office.
Both the FBI and the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the investigation.
BYD operates a large battery and electric bus factory in Lancaster, selling electric buses to the Antelope Valley Transit Authority and other public transit agencies and school districts over the past decade. BYD’s electric vehicles are also used by transportation agencies in Anaheim, Antelope Valley, Long Beach, Denver, Los Angeles Metro, and Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
BYD America is the U.S. subsidiary of BYD Company, operating the Lancaster factory. Due to high tariffs and lack of federal safety and emissions certifications, BYD passenger vehicles are not sold in the U.S.
BYD officials did not respond to requests for comments.
Mayor Parris stated that the FBI’s raids in Lancaster have been based on four years of collecting evidence and building a case. So far, no charges have been filed in this investigation.
“I have no doubt that the Chinese (Communist) government is improperly exerting influence,” Parris said. Following the raids in Lancaster, another city official provided him with a search warrant specifically mentioning BYD and other targets, although he refused to disclose the specific names of these targets. A search warrant is a legal notice of impending arrest.
According to Parris, on the day after the city council elections (April 15th), FBI agents raided the residences of Deputy Mayor Marvin Crist, Councilman Raj Malhi, and others. Crist is the chairman of the Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA), which began replacing all its diesel buses with BYD electric vehicles in 2018. Malhi is also a board member of AVTA.
Sixteen years ago, Lancaster was in fierce competition with Los Angeles and Long Beach to attract BYD to the U.S.
“I went to China to bring BYD to Lancaster,” Parris said. He has been serving as mayor since April 2008.
Parris visited China three times to persuade BYD to establish a plant in Lancaster. The electric bus and battery manufacturer officially announced plans to relocate the factory to the desert city located 60 miles north of Los Angeles on May 1, 2013.
He mentioned that the BYD factory once employed about 1,000 local workers at its peak, but due to weak demand in various electric vehicle markets, the workforce has been reduced by approximately 200 people.
The spring search warrants also mentioned names of charitable organizations, a hospital, other city officials, and community members. Parris declined to disclose the identities of specific organizations or individuals.
He also stated that the FBI seized phones of several community members, including an unidentified board member of the American Vehicle Transportation Association (AVTA).
“Due to the wording of the arrest warrants, the city government has hired criminal attorneys for the mayor and assistant mayor,” Parris said. He himself is known as an outstanding criminal attorney.
This week, the FBI also conducted raids in San Bernardino County, California, involving the residences of a county commissioner, a council member in Ontario, and the office of the Chinese-American media production company EDI Media in West Covina. As part of the operation, federal agents also raided a mansion in Beverly Hills and seized records from Ontario International Airport.