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Scott Markowitz, a Fullerton City Council candidate running in District 4, was arrested Monday night on alleged felony perjury charges after investigators from the OC District Attorney’s office claimed he failed to properly submit his nomination forms to run for office.
The arrest – coming weeks before the Nov. 5 election – makes him ineligible to serve on City Council even if elected, and would force the city to hold a special election immediately if he wins office.
Markowitz is facing a maximum of three years and eight months in state prison after being charged with two felony counts, one for perjury and the other for falsifying records, according to a news release by the OC District Attorney’s office.
While Markowitz did get the required signatures to run for office, investigators say there was a problem with them.
“On August 9, 2024, Markowitz signed candidate nomination paperwork under penalty of perjury that he was the circulator of the candidate paperwork and collected the 30 nomination signatures,” reads the release. “Numerous voters who signed Markowitz’ nomination paperwork told district attorney investigators that Markowitz was not the circulator of the paperwork.”
Because Markowitz was not present, those signatures were declared invalid and he was charged with perjury because he declared he was present to witness the signing.
The investigation comes as District Attorney Todd Spitzer investigates Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do amidst questions on whether he funneled millions of dollars to a nonprofit his daughter helped run in an alleged embezzlement scheme.
[Read: FBI Executes Searches on OC Supervisor, His Daughter & Others in Missing COVID Money Case]
But a Voice of OC review last year found Spitzer rarely prosecutes elected officials for corruption.
While Spitzer confirmed the DA’s office is investigating, they have yet to file any charges in the case of former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu, who’s pleaded guilty to multiple charges after an FBI corruption investigation.
[Read: OC District Attorney Rarely Prosecutes Political Crimes]
Generally, the DA goes after cases involving false nomination paperwork and campaign sign stealing according to agency spokesperson Kimberly Edds.
Edds highlighted the case of former Santa Ana City Councilman Roman Reyna, who was prosecuted after he resigned, admitting he lied about where he lived in the city to run for office.
He ultimately was forced to pay $578,000 in restitution and was barred from holding elected office ever again.
[Read: Roman Reyna to Resign from Santa Ana Council, Potentially Shifting Power Balance]
Their largest election case came in 2022, when they filed over 33 felony fraud charges against three Buena Park residents accused of falsifying signatures on a recall petition against then-City Councilwoman Sunny Han.
[Read: Orange County Sees Its Biggest Election-Related Criminal Case in Years: 33 Felony Counts]
As of Tuesday, Markowitz had disclosed no political fundraising activity, according to campaign finance disclosures.
Spitzer said he moved ahead with the case against Markowitz to avoid having to remove a sitting councilman in case he got elected.
“Voters must have total confidence that every election is being carried out in a fair and unbiased manner,” Spitzer said in Tuesday’s statement.
“Given the risk to the electoral process as well as the potential of the City of Fullerton having to pay for a special election should Markowitz be elected, there was no choice but to file criminal charges prior to the election.”
Hugo Rios is a Voice of OC reporting fellow. Contact him at hugo.toni.rios@gmail.com or on Twitter @hugoriosss.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
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