{"id":480085,"date":"2026-09-30T04:08:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T04:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/480085\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T04:08:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T04:08:32","slug":"fbi-cracks-safe-at-san-francisco-fixer-walter-wongs-former-hq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/480085\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI cracks safe at San Francisco fixer Walter Wongs former HQ"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Mission Local this month visited<\/a> the sprawling former citadel of former San Francisco fixer Walter Wong,there were many strange and terrible things to see. Those included a penthouse with a secret passageway and a secret floor wedged between the 95,000-square-foot building\u2019s second and third stories.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following our visit, based on a tip, Mission Local asked the building\u2019s new owners about a hulking antique safe hidden in a section of the complex formerly inhabited by a caretaker. To the surprise of all, it was still there, concealed behind a wooden panel beneath a staircase, unopened.<\/p>\n

Wong in 2020 pleaded guilty<\/a> to federal charges that he participated in a kickback scheme to siphon $1.5 million from the Chinatown Hilton. He cooperated with the feds in their cases against his former allies, most notably since-convicted former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was, for decades, the city\u2019s preeminent \u201cpermit expediter,<\/a>\u201d leaning on the many workers he placed within the city\u2019s building department to work magic for clients navigating San Francisco\u2019s treacherous construction landscape.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The building\u2019s new owners,<\/a> the adult film company Kink.com, say that after Mission Local\u2019s queries about the safe, they reported its discovery to the FBI. And on Tuesday, FBI officials entered the building \u2014\u00a0with the adult film company\u2019s consent. Along with a man described as a \u201ccertified master safe-cracker,\u201d the agents oversaw the opening of the giant antique safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The FBI confirmed to Mission Local that it today visited \u201cUncle Walter\u2019s Mystery House\u201d and opened the safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/p>\n

And within it? Alas, nothing much<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A former Wong associate described the contents of this safe<\/a> in prior years as the \u201cthings Walter didn\u2019t want anybody to know about.\u201d If so, those things are now elsewhere: Eyewitnesses today described the content of the safe as being \u201ca couple of Post-It notes that had some scribble on them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While journalists were not permitted on-site, Mission Local obtained photographs and spoke to observers. We are told that the Post-Its were, dutifully, placed into an evidence bag by agents wearing gloves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The safe-cracker surprised both the onlookers and FBI agents on-site by opening the safe so quickly. He had, we are told, studied up on the internal workings of this model of safe, an antique from L. H. Miller\u2019s Safe & Iron Works of Baltimore<\/a>, which was likely well over a century old. He knew exactly where to bore into the safe with his carbide-tipped drill. He then slipped thin tubes equipped with scopes and mirrors into the pinholes, and was able to open the combination lock from within.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The interior of the safe looked largely as it did when this device was new in the late 1800s or early 1900s. An observer described it as \u201csuper old-timey and pretty well-preserved. It\u2019s not like it was exposed to sunlight.\u201d Within were crimson, patterned carpeting and several wooden drawers. The agents found the scraps of paper within the drawers. \u201cAs expected,\u201d one of them purportedly sighed when the contents of the safe were revealed to be underwhelming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it was a lot of fun,\u201d said an observer. \u201cAnd, I have to say, the FBI agents were extremely agreeable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Open<\/p>\n

Following the cracking of the safe, Kink staff invited the agents to tour the secret floor,<\/a> dubbed \u201cfloor 2.5\u201d by workers here. The agents, we\u2019re told, obliged, mounting a ladder, ascending through a panel in the ceiling and taking photos of the prodigious amount of labels left behind on the floors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was, staffers here say, \u201ca consent-based process.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

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