Fine Recommended for Ex-MTA Official

An administrative law judge in Sacramento on Friday recommended that a former Metropolitan Transportation Authority audit director be fined $3,000 for violating conflict of interest provisions of the state Political Reform Act.

In the ruling, which must be approved by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, the judge concluded that Filiberto Martinez had failed to disclose that he had a financial relationship with Abdul Sesay, who at the time was the MTA’s insurance chief.

The judge also found that Martinez failed to disqualify himself from conducting an investigation into gifts that Sesay allegedly took from an MTA contractor, and subsequently “buried” audit findings of possible wrongdoing.

In a separate matter, Sesay pleaded guilty in 1995 to federal bribery charges and is still awaiting sentencing. An insurance consultant was convicted in federal court last month of offering some of those bribes.