The Oakland corruption trial in federal court has mostly focused on California Waste Solutions and Evolutionary Homes, but a third company's name keeps coming up: ABC Security Services, which has guarded Oakland City Hall and other city-owned properties for almost a decade, The Oaklandside reported.
ABC's owner, Ana Chretien, is closely linked to Mario Juarez, the government's key witness in the Sheng Thao trial. Juarez co-founded Evolutionary Homes with the Duongs and has admitted over the past two weeks to helping the Duongs' recycling company. Evidence has also surfaced that Juarez worked behind the scenes to help ABC hold onto its contract guarding Oakland's public buildings. Prosecutors have not alleged that ABC or Chretien broke any laws, or that they were part of the alleged conspiracy that led to criminal charges against Thao, her former romantic partner Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong, The Oaklandside reported.
Last week, the prosecution showed evidence that Juarez was paid to lobby for ABC Security even though he had never registered as a lobbyist. Individuals who fail to register or report their contacts with city officials may face financial penalties and can be charged with a misdemeanor. Shortly after Thao took office in 2023, Juarez contacted Jones to see if he could help advance ABC's interests. Jones promised Juarez that it would be "handled fairly." Around this same time, Thao arranged for the city to withdraw a proposal to award the security contract to one of ABC's rivals. Since then, the contract has remained in ABC's grasp, The Oaklandside reported. Those are allegations and trial exhibits in an ongoing case, not findings that ABC or Chretien committed a crime.