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A California property tax official who called himself a “bad boy” and once dressed up in drag is now the target of a FBI investigation.
FBI agents executed three search warrants on Tuesday at the Contra Costa County Assessor’s office and two residences linked to County Assessor Gus Kramer and Assistant Assessor Vince Rob, who was elected to be Kramer’s successor.
Agents left the assessor’s office around 1:30 p.m., ABC7 reported, but the office remained closed.
The FBI declined to comment to media on the reason for the investigation, but a sealed warrant signed last week by a federal judge for investigation was for wire fraud.
Kramer said he has no idea what the investigation could be for.
“I don’t wire anything, so I don’t have the slightest idea what they’re talking about,” Kramer told CBS News. “I think this is a fishing expedition based on rumor and inuendo.”
He added that he suspected the investigation could be from two former employees who left the office years ago. He also floated the idea of political retaliation from the county board of supervisors.
“They’re making accusations. They would have had access to some of the information they’re mentioning,” said Kramer on the former staffers. “I have been investigated more times than not and every time I’m exonerated.”
He also claimed the investigation had to do with the assessed value of properties in the county.
Kramer told ABC7 he doesn’t know what items were taken from his office but that agents took one document from his home.
Kramer, who has been in office since 1994 and will retire at the end of this year, has had a colorful history of controversy. Back in 2018, there was a probe into Kramer’s multiple personal real estate investments in the very county he oversaw property tax for.
A year later, he was targeted by a grand jury accusation over allegedly creating a hostile and abusive work environment after female employees reported unwanted sexual remarks and racial disparagement. In 2009, a worker claimed Kramer retaliated against her after accusing him of sexual harassment.
There also seems to be tensions between Kramer and the county supervisors. Kramer filed a federal lawsuit in 2012 against them, claiming discrimination for a pay raise that didn’t come through. Board members had endorsed Kramer’s opponent in the 2022 election and publicly censured Kramer in 2019.
“The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors is aware of the ongoing federal law enforcement investigation at the Assessor’s Office,” a spokesperson for the board of supervisors said.
Kramer’s personality seems just as colorful. The cover of his 1997 staff calendar featured him as Augustus Caesar with a leafy crown and “The Bad Boy Assessor” as his title, the East Bay Times reported.
In a 1999 Christmas party, he was recorded coming into a banquet room with women’s lingerie, a garter belt and stockings. Some saw it as an example of sexism, but Kramer had dismissed such accusations.
“It was done in jest at a Christmas party. It was done for entertainment,” he said.
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