CommentsONE MAN’S OPINION-The FBI’s been nosing around LA for some time. Gee whiz, corruption in Los Angeles? Talk about Johnny-Come-Lately. Los Angeles has literally been dying due to the billions of dollars in developer corruption and the FBI only now is asking questions?
We could go back to the early 2000s, when the quasi-Canadian company, TrizecHahn, spent $625 million to construct the horrid Hollywood-Highland Project with millions of LA City (CRA) money ($100 million?) and then sold it to Garcetti’s favorite real estate developer, CIM Group, for only $201 million. Since LA is LA where corruption is sacrosanct, no one is tattle-tailing whether the City’s CRA had to eat its entire investment.
Who Have Been the Grand Enablers for LA Corruption?
Let's not forget the great enablers of the massive corruption which has destroyed Los Angeles: The FBI and the Courts. Thanks to these institutions, LA has the worst streets, the highest cost to own a home, the worst traffic congestion in the world, and an established flight of Family Millennials which id devastating the future tax base. Without the help of the FBI and the courts, LA would not have gone from the most desired urban location in the nation to the least desirable. Long story short: without law enforcement, Los Angeles has become a criminogenic swamp.
The FBI and “The Cesspool on Vine:” An Example of Willful Blindness?
Readers of CityWatch may have forgotten about this corruption despite the numerous articles which I have written. Quick Recap: Garcetti committed real estate fraud by presenting the city council a $5.4 million appraisal on the property at 1601 N. Vine (i.e. the Cesspool) and concealed the actual CRA appraisal of only $4 million. The result was that the city paid the seller an extra $1.4 million. Also, Garcetti used straw man purchaser, Hal Katersky, in lieu of the owner, Steve Ullman, who had become persona non grata due to his prior troubles with the CRA. After the CRA held the property for several years, Garcetti had the CRA sell it back to the Ullman-Katersky for only $825,000. In addition, the owners did not have mortgage payments while the CRA owned the property. People who say “cheaters never prosper” clearly are unaware of LA City Hall.
The FBI knew all the details about the Cesspool as it had been given the necessary paperwork by more than one person yet did nothing except protect Garcetti by its intentional blindness. Now that we have a GOP Administration, we are undergoing a minor investigation of a tiny portion of LA corruption. Had the FBI’s blindness not aided and abetted Garcetti back in early 2000s, the vast corruption infecting the city might have been prevented. When a city councilmember can publicly engage in real estate fraud and no one does anything, the result is more corruption.
Since the current FBI investigation is limited to Chinese investors, could this probe be part of Trump’s negotiations with China and have nothing to do with bringing clean government to Los Angeles?
The Hollywood Sign Swindle: The FBI also knew about the international swindle by Garcetti and LaBonge over saving The Hollywood Sign; yet, it ignored this criminality.
Garcetti’s Felon Fundraiser: The FBI knew that Garcetti's fundraiser Juri Ripinsky was a federal felon who had served two years in Leavenworth for real estate and bank fraud yet Garcetti got Ripinksy the lucrative Paseo Plaza Project in Hollywood with no disclosure to the City Council that Ripinsky was a federal felon.
One needs to remember that the FBI is controlled by politicos in Washington which raises the possibility that the FBI’s acquiescence in LA corruption may have come from the Democrat Administration in Washington.
Massive Judicial Corruption
The corruption in the courts is so deep that they have ceased to operate as a legal institution. Perhaps a judge here or there will attempt to adhere to the rule of law, but the judicial system is riddled with personal self-interest, incompetence and corruption that it is worse than going to Vegas. In Vegas, if you win, the House pays. In the court system, you can win at 21 and the judge will change the name of the game to 22 and declare you the loser. Basically, the judicial system has no rules other than what a particular judge wants on a particular day. You might be treated fairly, but don't bet on it.
Look at Judge Richard Fruin who declared that the LA City Council is above the law. According to Judge Fruin the LA City Council does not have to follow the criminal law. Penal Code 86 explicitly makes it a crime to trade votes in city council. It is a form of bribery. The vote trading agreement at city council occurs when a councilmember puts a project on the city council agenda, then each member present must vote “yes.” Thus, all projects receive unanimous approval. A developer who bribes a councilmember is guaranteed that he will get the project for which the bribe is paid. Judge Fruin ruled that the city council violation of the criminal law was “non-justiciable.”
The Difference Between Corruption vs Corruptionism
The difference is that corruption occurs within a relatively honest system where some individuals enrich themselves by criminal activity, such as embezzlement. Corruptionism occurs when the nature of the institution has become criminogenic so that the institution itself is corrupt. While it may have some decent individuals, a criminogenic system is run to benefit the big wigs. Despite controversies surrounding the FBI, there is currently no credible evidence that the agency itself is criminogenic. But the Los Angeles County Courts and the rest of the California state courts exemplify a criminogenic institution. The Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has said that the California state courts suffer from an “epidemic of misconduct” and this assessment means that judges and justices are pivotal culprits. In fact, it would be oxymoronic for a judicial system to suffer from an epidemic of misconduct without recognizing that the judges and justices who control the system are not corrupt. The legal term is: res ipsa loquitur.
Like other criminogenic institutions, a corrupt judiciary is complex. Not each judge is corrupt, and those who are, are not all corrupt in the same way. In a criminogenic system, one finds judges who use their power for personal financial gain. That can include cash kickbacks or special favors such as helping the judge’s children or grandchildren get into a particular college. (This was mentioned in CityWatch long before the present college scandal.) Another scam involves getting mortgages where the judge does not have to make any payments. Some judges are bigots who use their courtroom to impose their personal prejudices. Other law and order judges railroad minorities into prison so that the politicos will promote them to a high court.
A criminogenic judiciary threatens the entire society. What happens when judges abuse children in family court? Nothing. What happens when judges encourage police to lie or judges destroy evidence or have prosecutors manufacturer evidence? Nothing! What can be done when judges allow jailhouse snitches to lie because it advances the judges’ careers to have high conviction rates? What does a populace do when a city council has become a criminal enterprise but the judge rules that the city council is above the law? Nothing.
While power tends to corrupt, corruption destroys. By destroying the rule of law, a criminogenic judiciary destroys society. Los Angeles has lived in a polluted judicial environment for decades and the situation becomes worse each day.
(Richard Lee Abrams is a Los Angeles attorney and a CityWatch contributor. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Abrams’ views are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
