The Port of Oakland’s executive director retired Monday as he was becoming increasingly embroiled in a scandal in which $4,500 in public funds were used for a party at a strip club.
Omar Benjamin and Maritime Director James Kwon had been on paid administrative leave since mid-October. In a news release issued Monday night, the port announced that Benjamin had stepped down effective immediately.
Port officials had initially been investigating Kwon, who had submitted receipts for a 2008 gathering at Treasures, an upscale strip club in Houston.