Chula Vista City Councilmember Andrea Cardenas and her brother, Jesus Cardenas, have been charged with felony counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, money laundering, and other charges stemming from an alleged fraudulent loan for their political consulting business, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.
According to a criminal complaint, the siblings fraudulently obtained a $176,227 Paycheck Protection Program loan in early 2021 intended for their firm, Grassroots Resources.
The complaint states that Jesus Cardenas, 40, misrepresented the number of employees, misrepresented what type of business it was, and said the PPP funds would go towards employee retention and payroll, when the funds were actually used for personal expenses.
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Andrea Cardenas, 31, allegedly submitted the business license and payroll calculation data for another company, marijuana dispensary Harbor Collective, and claimed it was information for Grassroots Resources, according to the complaint.
After receiving the loan, the complaint details several occasions in which the siblings allegedly used the loan funds to make credit card payments, payments to a Venmo account, and a $33,500 check to Andrea Cardenas' Chula Vista City Council campaign account.
The siblings, who are slated to be arraigned next Thursday in downtown San Diego, are also charged with grand theft for allegedly taking funds from the Small Business Administration, and face additional charges of failing to file tax returns.
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Andrea Cardenas faces up to five years and eight months if convicted of all charges.
Delfina Gonzalez ran against Andrea Cardenas for the District 4 seat in 2020. In light of the charges, she says the city councilwoman should resign.
"What would be the next steps to be able to protect our city would be asking for Andrea Cardenas' resignation. Any vote she makes, we're always going to second-guess it. Is that something for our city, or is it something that there's a background political agenda," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said that Cardenas benefitted from tens of thousands of dollars from Grassroots Resources that funded campaign mailers she couldn't compete with.
A spokesperson for Chula Vista said the city does not have a comment on the complaint.
The city charter states that a vacancy of a council position would only occur if a council member is convicted of a felony or crime, resigns or is consistently absent from meetings, among other reasons. In the event of a vacancy, the council can appoint a replacement within one year of an election or call a special election if the remainder of the term is greater than one year.
Jesus Cardenas, who served as chief of staff for San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn until his resignation earlier this year, faces up to four years and four months in prison.
Councilmember Whitburn issued the following statement Thursday:
“Following concerning local media reports regarding Mr. Cardenas’ outside business, I accepted his resignation last spring. He has not been employed at the City since, and there has been no further professional or political association.”
