Philadelphia man fined for offering Phillies club seats to L&I worker

A Philadelphia man was fined $1,000 for offering a Department of Licenses and Inspections employee free club box seats at a Phillies game, the Board of Ethics announced Tuesday.

In June, an L&I inspector issued a stop-work order on a South Philadelphia property owned by the man, Tam Tran. The inspector cited issues with the permitting and insurance coverage.

The next day, Tran sent the L&I employee an email thanking him for taking his call the day before on the matter. Tran went on to recap the work that he was to complete.

He finished the email:

"Not sure if you like Phillies Baseball for friends and family time, let me know which game you like and I can get 4 tickets to Phillies game to relax and enjoy family time . . . Thanks Again looking forward to hearing from you."

The employee did not accept the tickets, which were each valued at $130 for a total of $520, according to the Ethics Board settlement with Tran.

Instead, the employee flagged the email and the Office of Inspector General was notified. The inspector general passed the case to the Board of Ethics, which has jurisdiction over gift rule violations, said Shane Creamer, the board's executive director.

The city's rule is that a person may not offer or give gifts worth more than $99 in the aggregate per calendar year to a city employee or officer from whom that person is seeking official action.

The penalty for such violation is $1,000. Tran cooperated with the Board of Ethics and has agreed to pay the $1,000 fine within 14 days.

Tran could not be reached for comment Monday.

The stop-work order was lifted a few days after the notice and subsequent offer.

"Mr. Tran's contractor had begun to take corrective action to resolve the problems at the work site" according to the Ethics Board settlement with Tran.

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