Huntington Park City Hall, Mayor Karina Macias’s home, and 8 other locations were raided on Feb. 26 by the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation for the potential misuse of millions of dollars in public funds for the construction of an aquatic center.

They collected dozens of items of evidence from each location, “Including public records, computers, tablets, cell phones, financial papers, and other electronic equipment,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman.

The investigation was named “Operation Dirty Pond” and the DA office has been investigating this project since 2022. 

DA Hochman said, “My office is committed to ensuring that public officials uphold the highest standard of honesty, integrity, and transparency.” He and his office have been investigating this project for many years now, and it is his and his office’s biggest goal to keep public officials responsible.

“There an estimated $14 million, give or take, that has been expended by the city, and that from those funds, the residents of the city have only received an empty lot with dead grass and nothing to show for those millions of dollars,” said Vice Mayor Arturo Flores

Flores called for an investigation into the aquatic center for the use of millions of public dollars connected to the project just a month before the raids.

Many former Huntington Park council members have been aware of this corruption and have made multiple reports to the district attorney’s office. Multiple people have also stated that this is not the only corrupt project the city has been involved in.