The Los Angeles Police department says it is investigating a now-retired LAPD captain accused of helping to keep accusations of sexual assault against former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves from becoming public.
News of the conduct came earlier Wednesday when the New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that Moonves and Paramount Global would pay a combined $24.5 million to CBS shareholders to settle insider trading and sexual misconduct claims.
As part of that case, James’ office said that Chief Communications Officer Gil Schwartz sold nearly $8.9 million in stock in the network after the LAPD captain secretly informed him, Moonves and other network executives that Moonves had been accused of sexual assault — and ahead of the public disclosure of the accusations. In addition to sharing confidential details of the accuser’s police report with top CBS executives, James’ office also said that the unIdentified LAPD captain worked with executives for months to keep things quiet until Schwartz sold his stock just prior to the scandal went public. (Schwartz died in 2020 at age 68.)
The LAPD captain, who has not been identified, moonlighted as a security consultant for Moonves at the Grammy Awards from 2008-2014.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in a statement that the department is “fully cooperating with the New York and California Attorney General offices and have also initiated an internal investigation regarding the conduct of the retired command officer as well as to identify any other member(s) of the organization that may have been involved. What is most appalling is the alleged breach of trust of a victim of sexual assault, who is among the most vulnerable, by a member of the LAPD. This erodes the public trust and is not reflective of our values as an organization.”