Developer Mark Abrams helped channel $300,000 to the mayor's campaign accounts, got a seat on Hahn's political executive committee and successfully urged him to appoint Abrams' attorney to the planning commission, the Times reports today in a front-page investigative story. The piece by Rich Connell and Robert J. Lopez traces the developer's climb in influence at the same time he was allegedly involved in a big mortgage scam. Abrams is "a chief target in a criminal investigation by the U.S. attorney and the FBI," and with associates has been sued by Lehman Bros. Bank which says he "perpetrated … a well-organized conspiracy" to fraudulently obtain $140 million in home mortgages. The city Ethics Commission is also investigating whether Abrams illegally laundered contributions to Hahn by telling employees to donate, then reimbursing them. According to the piece, Abrams got help from the mayor's office in pushing his real estate projects through City Hall. His main contact was Troy Edwards, the Hahn campaign finance director who became a key deputy mayor in the new administration. Edwards resigned in April after his name came up in the "pay to play" investigations that are dogging some of Hahn's associates.

* Monday follow: The ethics commission is also looking at Abrams-linked contributions totaling about $20,000 to councilman Tony Cardenas and former councilman Nick Pacheco, both Hahn allies, the Times reports. Councilman and mayoral rival Bernard Parks calls on Hahn to return all money donated through Abrams.

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