A Concord-based housing developer was stalled on city permits in Antioch because they hadn't completed some other required work. So their CEO allegedly tried to bribe a city councilmember with $15,000, $5,000 of which was straight-up cash crammed into a coffee mug.

Many months after former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home was raided last summer, we learned that this was because a father-and-son business team had bribed Thao and her romantic partner. Now some 30 miles north of Oakland in the City of Antioch, a different father-and-son business team is accused of offering a $15,000 bribe to an Antioch City Councilmember. But that councilmember, who’s remained anonymous, immediately went to the FBI and became an informant for them.

At the FBI’s direction, that councilmember said they would play ball and take the bribe. And as KGO reports, while the councilmember was wearing a wire, the father paid the first installment of the bribe in a coffee mug stuffed with $5,000 in cash.

According to the Department of Justice press release, the father and son are 60-year-old DeNova Homes CEO and owner David Sanson, and his 33-year-old son and DeNova Homes VP Trent Sanson. (It's unclear if either is still with the company.) The company has many projects in Antioch, including a 533-unit development called Aviano.

But Aviano was stalled, because the City of Antioch said they had not completed adequate infrastructure components. And the Department of Justice claims that the younger Trent Sanson approached the councilmember with an offer of cash to get the approvals to continue.

“Trent Sanson allegedly stated that David Sanson was willing to pay the Councilmember $10,000 in exchange for the requested actions,” the DoJ said in their release. “A second video-recorded meeting took place on June 20, 2024, at which David Sanson allegedly paid the Councilmember $5,000 in cash concealed in a travel coffee mug branded with the logo of the Sansons’ development company.”

Curiously, DeNova Homes is making it sound like David Sanson is no longer with the company, saying in a statement to KGO that he "semi-retired in 2020.”

“He is no longer involved in the leadership or daily operations,” the statement continues. “Importantly, DeNova Homes is not implicated in the government's investigation. DeNova remains financially sound and fully focused on delivering for our customers, partners, and communities without disruption."

That’s plausible, because DeNova Homes is not mentioned in the Department of Justice’s statement. That agency generally goes out of its way to not name parties who are not facing charges or suspected of wrongdoing.

As for the Sansons, they’re both charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. They each face a possible 15 years in prison, and are scheduled to appear again in court in June.

Related: Feds’ Sheng Thao Indictment Says She Actually Tried to Solicit $3 Million Bribe [SFist]

Image: US Attorney's Office, Northern District of California