The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into a salary scandal in Bell City near Los Angeles, it was reported on Friday. The investigation will determine whether city officials violated civil rights of Latino residents by aggressively towing cars and charging residents exorbitant fees to get their vehicles back, according to The Los Angeles Times. Federal officials are also looking into complaints about other ways the city tried to boost revenues, including through aggressive code enforcement, the paper quoted law enforcement sources as saying. Located in suburban Los Angeles, Bell City with about 38,000 residents found itself in the national spotlight when the Times reported earlier that some top city officials were making exorbitant salaries. City Manager Robert Rizzo was being paid an annual salary of 787,637; Police Chief Randy Adams, 457,000; and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia, 376,000. That made them the highest-paid city officials in the nation. Additionally, Mayor Oscar Hernandez and three of the city's four council members -- Teresa Jacobo, Luis Artiga and George Mirabal -- were being paid 97,000 for their part-time jobs. It's also been reported that the disgraced officials are eligible for huge pensions; that some had taken out questionable loans from the city; that residents' property tax rates were unlawfully high; and that the city also overcharged them for sewer service. Rizzo, Adams and Spaccia have since resigned. The mayor and council members agreed to reduce their salaries, but refused to heed their outraged constituents' calls to step down. The Times reported earlier this week that some Bell police officers said top brass gave them what amounted to a daily quota to find cars to tow, with some saying that their jobs were at risk if they didn't get enough cars towed. Bell charges 300 dollars for unlicensed motorists to retrieve their cars, triple what Los Angeles County and neighboring cities charge, according to the Times. The federal probe comes as the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the California attorney general are investigating high salaries for Bell officials, as well as allegations of voter fraud and questionable financial transactions. The state Controller's Office, meanwhile, has been conducting a review of the city's finances. 