LA County Assessor Criminal Probe; Prop Taxes Reduced for Campaign Contributor

Reporter Randy Economy reveals the existence of criminal allegations against LA County Assessor John Noguez to reduce the commercial property taxes of clients of longtime campaign contributor Encino businessman Ramin Salari.

Assessor Noguez, who lacks a college degree, was elected in 2010 to manage the $1 Trillion LA Assessors office with strong political backing and support of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and California Assembly member Gil Cedillo. Villaraigosa and Cedillo supported Noguez even when confronted with facts about Noguez connections to one of the City of Bell’s indicted officials, ex Bell Councilman George Cole and other felons Noguez associates with. Cole is presently under criminal indictment for his activities in the now famous City of Bell scandal. Cole claims to be innocent. Noguez was also the part time mayor of the the small City of Huntington Park which is adjacent to Bell. Noguez strongly supported George Coles Steelworkers Old Timers Association with contracts from Huntington Park. Coles political activities have now become legendary in Southeast Los Angeles.

Noguez is associated with many other colorful characters in Southeast Los Angeles. A catalog of these associations has been kept by a secret activist who goes by the name “The Editor of Watch Our City.” A link to articles of Noguez’s association with felons and colorful folks can be found at this link. “The Editor” also highlights additional rumors of payback for Noguez political contributors in story’s on his website.

Below is Randy Economy’s unedited article, reprinted with permission. The LA Times is digging into this as well I can confirm.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has opened up a formal inquiry into the activities of Assessor John R. Noguez, Los Cerritos Community News has learned exclusively.

Noguez, who was elected in November of 2010 is the subject of a probe that was launched on November 18, 2011, LCCN can confirm. In an interview with David Demerjian, Senior District Attorney with the Office of Public Integrity on Monday, a complaint was filed late last year and that “an inquiry has been commenced.” LCCN (Los Cerritos Community News) has also been told by four senior members who work at the highest levels for Noguez that that the focus of the probe revolves around the relationship between Noguez and Encino businessman Ramin Salari.

Salari is the owner of Assessment Appeals Services, LLP. According to their company website, Salari touts his company’s ability to help “over 6,000 property tax reassessments with a high success rate.” Noguez spokesman Louis Reyes said that “they have not received anything whatsoever from the District Attorney’s Office.” “You are asking us to comment on something we don’t have any knowledge about,” Reyes said. On Wednesday, Reyes called LCCN and said that Noguez had been told by Demerjian that “the Assessor was not the subject of the inquiry.”

On Thursday at 9 a.m. after the story broke on both the LCCN website and confirmed in the Los Angeles Times by Pulitzer Prize winner journalist Ruben Vives, Demerjian called LCCN Publisher Brian Hews and Reporter Randy Economy and denied ever having a “conversation with the Assessor” about the probe. Further Demerjian said that he has only met Noguez on a “couple of occasions” at social events. “I have never spoken to the man,” Demerjian said.

LCCN has been told that the investigation centers on the influence that Salari has been able to “leverage” on behalf of his private clientele with his longtime political ally Noguez. Salari has helped bankroll campaigns for Noguez going back to his days as an elected member of the Huntington Park City Council. LCCN has also been told that Salari has personally attended “numerous” meetings with at least three “senior level” members of Noguez inner circle to “assert pressure” on professional county appraisers to directly “devalue” assessed property rates on behalf Salari clients at Assessment Appeal’s Services, LLP.

Several sources inside the Assessor’s office tell LCCN that Noguez staff members Andrew Stevens, Assistant Assessor Eric Haagenson and Chief Appraiser to Major Real Properties Mark McNeil have been with Salari in “heated” meetings with lower level appraisers in order to have commercial properties “devalued” at the “direction of Noguez.” The meetings took place in the Assessor’s North County Offices located in Encino and in West Los Angeles. In one of those meetings, LCCN has been told that Stevens berated a lower level appraiser in a “heated confrontation” and directed the staff member to “do as he was told” with Salari’s “standing right next to him in the meeting.” One high ranking assessor who has worked for the county for more than three decades, who spoke on condition of anonymity said that as many as 171 properties are involved in the probe, with more than “one billion dollars” in property devaluations involved. “This is Bell on steroids,” the source told LCCN. “This is a classic case of interference of government officials to reduce the valuation of someone’s property that has direct political ties to an elected assessor,” said one senior ranking county appraiser.

Noguez has been with the Assessor’s office for the past 25 years, and was elected to the top position in 2010. He is responsible for locating all taxable property in the sprawling county and to identify who the true legal owners are of each property. Salari is considered to be a key part of Noguez inner political circle dating back to his days when the first term Assessor served as an elected member of the Huntington Park City Council. Salari has been a major contributor to past Noguez political efforts. In 2003 Salari donated more than $15,000 in printing to Noguez and two other allies during a HP City Council campaign, according to records obtained by LCCN. --Randy Economy, Reporter (Copyright. Los Cerritos Community News. Hews Media Group. 2012)

“”Villaraigosa and Cedillo supported Noguez””
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California is controlled by the Hispanic Mafia.

Tip of the iceberg----politicans and donors' properties have been known to "disappear" from tax rolls.

Chicago has this down to a science----Take Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (AKA as Obama's COS who controlled the US Treasury).

As a (gag) US Congressman, Rahm and his wife formed a "non-profit foundation" operated from their residence ....which allowed the E;condor51manuel's to pay no realty taxes.

Chicago Cong Luis Gutierrez ----a latino amnesty champion aiding and abetting building a Third World on US soil---also paid no realty taxes---but said someone simply made a mistake..../s.

In charge of finance and taxes yet no degree... in LA you can put a latin name on the ballot and the mafia here will support them. Soon to be Mexico City Norte’!

"JUST HERE FOR A BETTER LIFE" "Impoverished" illegals buy multiple fake identities for several thousand dollars each. Jose Madrigal---the Washington State rapist---had some 30 identities.

A family of four can have an income of $30,000 a year and still qualify for food stamps----with just one identity. A single mother, with two children who has a full time job that pays $7.25 an hour has an effective income of $48,000 a year when you add all the benefits she and her children receive from the government: food stamps, Medicaid coverage, subsidized child care, school lunch program, “Temporary” Assistance to Needy Families, subsidized housing, Earned Income Tax Credit, etc......with just one identity.

REFERENCE The Federal ID that Pays Illegal Aliens Billions -----November 28, 2011

......a recent analysis entitled, “Treasury Department Says Illegal Aliens Collection Billions in Tax Credits,” revealed that according to the Department of Treasury’s Inspector General, more than $4.2 billion in additional child credits were paid out in 2010 to illegal immigrants. In 2005, the pay outs totaled $924 million. This program allows low income earners to claim a $1,000 per child credit.

EITC claims---can run up to over $3000 per claim. $20 billion is estimated to have been paid out to these cunning "impoverished" illegals. Most of them are collecting over and over again-----using multiple identities-----falsifying apps---claiming children they do not have and/or falsely stating kids are back in their homelands.

Political corruption is a major part of hispanic culture. So just look away and pretend it's not there unless you want to be branded a racist.

P.S. My father came here from Peru to escape this kind of cr@p, he's turning in his grave now. I'm sorry Dad, we as a nation have failed you live up to your dreams of a better world.

The corruption in government is an outrage. The inherent cause is because our media will cover up for their own special cronies political and otherwise.

There are no more corrupt cities than LA, Chicago and NYC but the media in these places will cover up the thievery that goes on by the developers and big time connected individuals.

What we need in the USA is a whistle blower law with teeth and substantial rewards to make whistle blowing worthwhile and serve as a threat to those who are now able to skate by. We need to get to the bottom of the corruption (political and otherwise) that is going to end up tearing us down, as it has done in other corrupted countries. Infested corruption is like metastasized cancer.

'Godfather Rahm and 'Little Louie' Gutierrez are just two of the many tax cheats in Chi and C_rook County. But they get the majority of the press coverage because their names are well known nationally.

A much bigger scam is run by some Black Alderman with 'pull' who have a knack of getting their friends, and friends of friends, property rezoned for a lower rate, or exemptions to zoning requirements to some Mansion this friend wants to build where it shouldn't be. The only reporter who goes after those guys is Columnist, John Kass of the Chicago Tribune.

Kass is the only 'journalist' worth a dam in the entire city or metro area. Even Death Threats to him and his wife kids from the Mob didn't stop him₍₁₎. In fact it made him go after the 'Wiseguys' harder in exposing them and their scams in his Columns. AND then he made the Death Threats, and from who made them, public in his columns. It was like, 'Okay, kill me now a-holes!'

But I digress -- there's so many Tax Cheating Politicians in Cook County they could fill one wing in the County Jail. But since they're a 'protected minority' even with public exposure if the Feds went after them it would be stopped by Holder in a nanosecond. Only white, European crooks shall be targeted. Black and Brown pols are off limits.

(1) This was 'a few years' back, when Daley was Mayor and City Contracts to Daley's mobbed up 'friends' was being exposed and Fitz was going after them for bribery and corruption in Federal Court. Which Fitz got convictions on, like he always does. (Fitz is another Chicago Treasure. The best darn US Atty Chi ever had, even going back to the Capone days)