The former CEO of the Oakland Coliseum Authority, who resigned in August amid claims that he was illegally trying to profit from a naming-rights deal with RingCentral, has now been charged with a felony.
The Alameda County district attorney just filed criminal charges against former Coliseum chief Scott McKibben, who is believed to have tried to charge a $50,000 "finder's fee" to Belmont-based RingCentral in exchange for negotiating the naming rights for the stadium. He's been charged with one felony and one misdemeanor count of violating conflict-of-interest laws. As the Chronicle reports, McKibben said that neither he nor his attorney had heard of the charges.
As SFist reported in August, McKibben had previously allegedly said he was not aware that the state Political Reform Act prohibited him from serving as an independent contractor while also serving on the Coliseum board. And there is a separate law, which is the basis of the new charges, that prohibits him from financially benefiting from any public contract in which he has negotiating power.
Under a deal struck earlier this year, RingCentral is set to pay the Coliseum Authority $1 million per year to have their name on the stadium for the next three years. But the Authority board has since said they will be renegotiating the naming rights in the wake of the allegations against McKibben.
Per the Chronicle, employees at RingCentral say that McKibben brought up the $50,000 fee when they first visited the Coliseum late last year. McKibben then allegedly sent three emails with attached invoices, each for $50,000, in June of this year. He reportedly never collected the fee.
Previously: RingCentral Naming Deal Likely Off For Oakland Coliseum As Details Of CEO's Illegal 'Finder's Fee' Revealed