Two East Bay property developers were charged with bribery Tuesday after an Antioch city councilmember reported them to the FBI for allegedly offering to pay for favorable treatment, according to federal prosecutors.
David Sanson, 60, and Trent Sanson, 33, face conspiracy and bribery charges for allegedly offering to pay the unnamed city councilmember thousands of dollars to get favors for one of their development projects, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said in a statement.
The elder Sanson is the owner and CEO of the Concord-based DeNova Homes building and development company, and Trent is its vice president. Their firm is developing several projects in Antioch and neighboring areas, including the Aviano project, which is a multi‐phase, 533‐unit residential development, according to federal prosecutors.
The indictment alleges that the Antioch Engineering and Development Services Division indicated the developers had not finished all of the required public infrastructure improvements in the city. As a result, the city withheld approval for releasing bonds tied to the project pending those improvements.
To overcome this hurdle, Trent allegedly contacted the city councilmember via iMessage on May 29 of last year to discuss issues the company was facing with the city’s engineering department regarding several projects, including Phase 3 of Aviano.
The FBI reportedly got ahold of a video of a meeting on June 12 of last year that purportedly shows Trent urging the councilmember to add “acceptance for Phase 3 at Aviano to release the completion and guarantee bonds” to the council’s agenda. According to the indictment, Trent said that his father was willing to pay $10,000 in exchange for favorable voting.
In a second video-recorded meeting on June 20, 2024, the elder Sanson allegedly handed the councilmember $5,000 in cash concealed inside a travel mug branded with his company’s logo.
Reputations ‘being dragged through the mud’
Both Sansons appeared in court Tuesday morning for the indictment, which formally accuses each Sanson with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. It also alleges that the defendants aided and abetted one another in bribing the councilmember.
Winston Chan, attorney for David Sanson, said in a statement, “It’s incredibly disappointing that Dave’s reputation — built on a decades-long career of creating opportunities for residents of cities like Antioch, that have struggled for years to keep up with housing needs and other challenges — is being dragged through the mud.”
Chan said, “We are reviewing the government’s allegations closely and caution against any rush to judgment based on mere allegations that present a one-sided story. We are confident the facts will show that Dave is innocent, and that he was unfairly targeted without cause to be dragged out of near retirement from out-of-state, to be trapped into a web of deceit manufactured to ‘take down’ Dave and his family by a controversial local politico, whose own suspect personal motivations we look forward to exposing.”
“Attempting to bribe a public official is a blatant attack on the integrity of our government and the trust of the communities we serve. The allegations in this case reflect a clear attempt to manipulate the system for personal gain.” Sanjay Virmani, FBI Special Agent in Charge
The DeNova Homes company also sent a statement saying that David Sanson semi-retired in 2020 when he moved to Montana and is no longer involved in the company’s leadership or daily operations.
“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,” the company said.
If convicted, both Sansons face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge and 10 years for the bribery count.
“Attempting to bribe a public official is a blatant attack on the integrity of our government and the trust of the communities we serve. The allegations in this case reflect a clear attempt to manipulate the system for personal gain. The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate and hold accountable anyone who seeks to corrupt public institutions through bribery or abuse of power,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani said in a statement.
The Sansons are scheduled to appear in district court on June 12 for a status conference before a federal judge.