Crime & Safety
County Assessor Faces Criminal Charges
Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez and his co- defendants face counts of embezzlement and grand theft, according to law-enforcement.
Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez and his co- defendants were charged today with new counts of embezzlement and grand theft today based on allegations his office reduced property tax assessments for political donors as far back as 1998.
Noguez, who was elected assessor in 2010, has been on leave since he was arrested Oct. 17, 2012, in the probe of his office, which included the arrests of appraiser Scott Schenter, chief appraiser Mark McNeil and campaign contributor Ramin Salari.
Salari was expected to be arraigned on separate tax evasion charges today.
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With the addition of 12 counts of embezzlement and grand theft, Noguez and his co-defendants now face 80 counts related to the investigation.
A hearing scheduled for Noguez this morning was postponed until Jan. 30th.
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Some of the new charges filed today date to 1998, according to the District Attorney's Office.
District Attorney Steve Cooley called in May for Noguez to resign, saying:
"This particular case, what I know about it, strikes me as the largest and most significant public corruption case in terms of county government, very, very significant, very substantial. This is an elected official and this is a serious case involving bribery and corruption."
-- City News Service
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