Former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves is accused of persuading a former police chief to provide information about a sexual assault case against her, according to newly released court documents. fined $.
In 2017, Moonves received leaked information about an investigation by an LAPD inspector into allegations against him. NBC Los Angeles reported.
He agreed to pay a fine on Feb. 5 for violating the city’s ethics code, according to legal documents released by the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission and obtained by news outlets on Friday.
The commission’s investigation found that former Los Angeles Police Department Detective Corey Palka met with Moonves in 2017 at a restaurant in Westlake Village, about 40 miles west of Los Angeles, and shared confidential information with him.
The investigation found that Palka had a clear allegiance to Moonves.
“They met for approximately one hour and discussed the LAPD investigation,” the document said. “This meeting was not part of an official investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.”
They discussed the matter again in December, according to the committee’s investigation.
The exchange took place several months before the allegations were made public.
Palka told NBC 4 before the committee’s findings were released that he was unaware of the allegations that he leaked confidential information about the case to CBS executives or Moonves.
CBS and Moonves’ interference in the case was first revealed in an insider trading settlement with the New York State Attorney General’s Office.
CBS and Moonves were ordered by Attorney General Letitia James to pay $30.5 million in 2022 for insider trading and concealing multiple sexual assault allegations against the executive.
The embattled CEO resigned from CBS in 2018 after at least 12 women, including TV executive Phyllis Gottlieb, accused him of sexual assault.
Mr. Moonves denies the charges.
Gottlieb accused Moonves of assaulting her in 1986 while she worked for him.
Some of the other accusers allege that he forced them to perform sex acts, while others allege that he retaliated against them professionally when they refused to press charges.
Mr. Palka continued to send text messages to Mr. Moonves even after he resigned from CBS, according to the ethics investigation.
“I am very sorry that this happened,” Palka said, according to the document. “I will always support you and pledge my loyalty to you.”
