The Sacramento County district attorney’s office has decided against filing criminal charges against California State Parks officials in connection with the discovery that state parks hid funds, the Sacramento Bee reported.
In a letter to the attorney general, District Attorney Jan Scully said her office would not pursue charges because it was unclear who the suspects were and what crime they might have committed. The attorney general’s office originally referred the investigation to the district attorney to determine whether charges should be filed, prompting the response from Scully.
“This referral comes to us without any indication from your office as to what crimes may have been committed, or which persons may be suspected of having committed any crimes,” Scully wrote in the letter.
A recent report from the attorney general’s office found that state parks purposely skewed its budget numbers for at least 10 years until the 2012 discovery of a $54-million surplus, too embarrassed to reveal millions of dollars in hidden funds and fearing state budget cuts.
The State Parks Department has been involved in several high-profile cases in Malibu over the years, including the Malibu Lagoon project and efforts to remove Rindge Dam.