FBI raids Contra Costa assessor's office, two East Bay homes
FBI agents served three federal search warrants Tuesday morning in Contra Costa County, including at the county assessor's office and two homes, as part of an ongoing investigation, the bureau confirmed.
The searches took place at the Contra Costa Assessor's Office, a residence on Temple Drive in Pacheco and a residence on West Arlington Street in Martinez, FBI San Francisco spokesperson Cameron Polan said in an email.
The residences are tied to outgoing Assessor Gus Kramer and Assistant Assessor Vince Robb, who won election last week to succeed Kramer.
No charges were announced Tuesday. The FBI did not say whether Kramer or Robb was a target of the investigation.
One warrant obtained by The Chronicle showed that agents were searching for evidence of wire fraud and "other offenses." The warrant was signed June 4 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Illman. Details of the warrants and the raid were first reported by The East Bay Times.
Kramer and Robb did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Robb, known as Kramer's right-hand man, won the June 2 election for Contra Costa County assessor with more than two-thirds of the vote. He is set to replace Kramer, who has held the elected office since 1994 and announced earlier this year that he would not seek another term.
The assessor's office determines taxable property values in Contra Costa County, an East Bay county of about 1.1 million people. Those values help determine property tax bills and revenue for local governments, schools and special districts.
Kramer's tenure has been mired in controversies. In 2019, a county civil grand jury accused him of misconduct and sought his removal from office, alleging he created a hostile work environment. Kramer denied the allegations and was not removed.
This year, Contra Costa County reached a settlement with Andrea Albrecht, a former supervising appraiser in Kramer's office who accused him of improperly reducing the value of a Walnut Creek apartment complex, and then retaliating against her when she raised concerns about it.
The property at the center of the property appears to have been the Carmel Pines Apartments in Walnut Creek, built in 1973 and owned at the time by A. L. Kolom & Associates. The owner appealed Albrecht's 2022 valuation of $13 million to $15 million, and contested that the property should instead be valued at around $8 million.
Albrecht's lawsuit alleges that Kramer unexpectedly showed up at the hearing, even though he hadn't assisted in preparing the appraisal or the case defending it. Kramer blocked Albrecht from presenting her appraisal and instead, while the hearing was on recess, met with the property owner and agreed to lower the property valuation to $10 million. Albrecht alleged that Kramer's valuation was illegal, given it wasn't "based on any evidence, research, or methodologies accepted in the field of property appraisal."
S. Zachary Samuels, a Florida-based lawyer who is listed as the CEO of A. L. Kolom, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A.L. Kolom sold the property in September to a new owner, Windy Hill Property Ventures in Palo Alto, for $10.3 million. Its assessed value in 2025 was $11.1 million.
Kramer has also previously faced scrutiny over using gift deeds to acquire millions of dollars or property without paying real estate transfer taxes, and failing to disclose millions worth of property in financial disclosure forms. Later, two deputy district attorneys said that then-District Attorney Mark Peterson, a friend of Kramer's, killed their investigation into the dealings before they had a chance to determine any wrongdoing.
The FBI did not release additional details about Tuesday's searches. It was not immediately clear what agents seized, if anything, or when more information about the investigation might become public.
Contra Costa County officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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