SEMPRA, THE F.B.I., and AZANO by VOSD

Week of Feb 10th, 2015,

Voice of San Diego's reporter, Liam Dillon, has a new three part report on the FBI investigation into SEMPRA Energy and there questionable business practices in Mexico. SEMPRA has successfully used the Federal Government to harass their Mexican competitors.



On KPBS.org Friday Roundtable they talked about this SEMPRA Scandal and the strange narrative that includes so much of the back-room dealing within the San Diego/Tijuana region. This is the ghost of the secret power struggles behind your energy utility and politicians.



As reported on KPBS









Voice of San Diego investigates SEMPRA and AZANO



The Politician that Gave SEMPRA Mexico

VOSD's Report on the Mexican Businessman describes

José Susumo Azano Matsura as a Goliath; 

heir to a Mexican development empire, defense contractor, 

high roller and political wheeler-dealer.

All this is part of

Sempra’s Shady Road to Dominance in Mexico

Liam Dillon | February 10, 2015

A confidential source described in the report as someone who saw the governor and his family every day told Interfor that Elorduy had been overheard talking about bank deposits in the Cayman Islands and that the governor made 3 a.m. telephone calls to Switzerland to discuss bank accounts there. The source also witnessed Elorduy’s wife ironing old $100 bills to remove the smell of mold from them. Beyond these scandalous and anonymously sourced details – Elorduy has denied them all – Interfor also connected Elorduy’s decision to confiscate Marathon’s land to bribes from Sempra.

here we see some of the connections;

It began in late 2011 with District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. She was running for San Diego mayor and Azano invited her to one of his Coronado homes for lunch. Dumanis would only be the first.

A few months later, Azano met with Dumanis and San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore in Gore’s downtown office. That summer Azano hosted a lunch for then-mayoral candidate Bob Filner. In September, hedined at a downtown restaurant with then-congressional candidate Juan Vargas. Prosecutors say Azano gave more than $600,000 to campaigns backing Dumanis, Vargas and Filner between December 2011 and November 2012. 

In the end, it wasn’t the investigations into drug trafficking or money laundering that took Azano down. And it wasn’t the claims of bribery or extortion or tax evasion. After six years of warfare with one of San Diego’s most powerful companies, Azano was arrested and charged with making a campaign contribution that was publicly disclosed and available for anyone in the world to see.

Read the 5 take-aways from this VOSD story

Here are links to all the stories in A Cross-Border Clash of the Titans and a timeline that lays out the whole tale:

Part I: The Mexican Businessman Who Drives Lambos, Peddles Spy Gear and Started a War With Sempra

Part II: Sempra’s Shady Road to Dominance in Mexico

Part II Sidebar: The Politician Who Gave Sempra Mexico

Part III: The Fall of José Susumo Azano Matsura

---