Personal Finance

Safieh Fard, Mortgage Scammer, Gets 5 Years After Guilty Plea, Withdrawal and Conviction

A Newport Beach jewelry store owner, who withdrew her guilty plea in a family mortgage scam case just before sentencing only to be found guilty in Santa Ana federal court anyway, has learned her fate. U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney sentenced 52-year-old Safieh Fard to 63 months in prison.

How Do I Make Sure My Album Is a Success?

By: Jessica Hopper [Editor's Note: Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for t ... More >>

Larry Thomas Dominguez Likely Buried Dead Dad and Got $100k of His Social Security: Cops

I'm no Columbo, but an Orange County District Attorney's office statement I just received about Larry Thomas Dominguez being charged with illegally collecting more than $100,000 from his deceased father's Social Security benefits indicates to me the bones found in the homicide suspect's former backy ... More >>

Dee Francis and Rosalinda Rodriguez Landon, Administrators in Unity Medical Fraud Scam, Expand Their Rap Sheets with Guilty Pleas

Two ex-administrators are the latest to be convicted in the massive medical insurance billing fraud case involving the since-closed Unity Surgical Outpatient Center of Buena Park. Dee Francis, 63, was sentenced to six years in state prison after pleading guilty the various counts Friday, while his f ... More >>

Albert Scott Arditi Sues BMW for Alleged Assault and Unjust Repo by Irvine Dealer's Staff

Irvine BMW is being sued by a Laguna Niguel man who claims dealership employees pushed him and held him down and that a repossession agent punched him as they seized his 2004 BMW 745i.If you're wondering why the fraud, assault and false imprisonment case is in Orange County's federal rather than st ... More >>

4 Get Prison Time (with More Likely to Come) in Massive Unity Medical Billing Fraud Scheme

An attorney, an accountant, and two medical center administrators walk into a bar . . . oops, that should be behind bars--for their roles in the nation's largest medical fraud prosecution. Four people who should have known better Thursday became the latest Unity Surgical Outpatient Center muckity-mu ... More >>

Safieh Fard, Who Copped to Family Mortgage Scam Then Withdrew Plea, is Found Guilty

A year ago, jewelry store owner Safieh Fard did something her sister and two of her sons did the year before: plead guilty in Santa Ana federal court to charges related to mortgage scams the family pulled with Newport Beach oceanfront properties for years. But heading into sentencing, the then-50-ye ... More >>

Anaheim Family Wins Eviction Stay and Loan Modification for Their Wrongfully Foreclosed Home!

As gazes were fixated on the space shuttle Endeavour flight in the skies above, the Gutierrez-Perez family and their Occupy allies announced a key victory this morning in the struggle to keep their Anaheim home. Earlier this month, an eviction notice was served effective September 2 on their residen ... More >>

March and Rally on 'Day of the Janitor' in Irvine Demands Workers' Rights

Janitors in Orange County will mark an important anniversary in labor history by continuing la lucha. Back in the day, on June 15, 1990, a peaceful protest by those who keep offices and properties clean for a living was repressed by la chota in Los Angeles, garnering worldwide sympathy for their dem ... More >>

Latin American Famiy Festival

Bowers Museum

Social Security Number Cheater in Orange County Gets Convictions Overturned

Lorena Colino immigrated to the United States from South America, got a job working as a service representative at the Social Security Administration in Orange County and secretly cheated to give social security numbers to illegal immigrants.Believing that Colino was involved in a bribery scheme, fe ... More >>

Tracy Ramon Seward, President David Palmer Lookalike, Admits to Robbing, Hostage Taking

​A dead ringer for 24's President David Palmer in a dark suit and tie with a white collared shirt walked into a Lake Forest Payday Loan store around 9 a.m. on June 10, 2009, pulled out a loaded semi-automatic handgun and held it at the head of a 61-year-old customer. He ordered the teller to empty ... More >>

Starbucks Supports Gay Marriage

​Even if their coffee's not really your thing, this might warm you up to the StarCorp. The company has come out in support of Washington State legislation that recognizes marriage equality for same-sex couples.Here's the letter sent out to nearly 150,000 employees: 

Carla Ann Brennan Pleads Guilty to $262k Student-Loan Scam, Gets 7 Years in Joint

​Carla Ann Brennan, who vaulted to first runner-up in one of last year's Ugly Police Mugshot of the Week lists with the pose at right, was sentenced to seven years in state prison after pleading guilty today to stealing $262,000 from at least five unsuspecting students by taking loans out in thei ... More >>

Will Dream Act Passage Prompt OC Protest of Gov. Jerry Brown?

​Despite its reputation as a right wing political stronghold, Orange County of recent times has been a hotbed of progressive activism. You name the subject--war, gay rights, Islamophobia, corporate power, racism, animal rights and the environment--and local liberals have consistently hit the stree ... More >>

Carla Ann Brennan Accused of Using Stolen Student Loan Funds to Repay Tax Fraud Restitution

​The evidence at right would indicate Carla Ann Brennan is a strong contender for Friday's semi-regular Ugly Police Mugshot of the Week feature. Believe it or not, there's an uglier one coming. But Brennan deserves some kind of recognition if the charges against her are true. Most brazen alleged g ... More >>

Ah, the Why-Can't-They-Just Wait-in-Line Myth!

[¡Ask a Mexican!] And the securing-the-border myth! In the same week!

[UPDATED with Conviction:] William Warren Baker Pleads Guilty to Ponzi Scam, But Where's His Mom?

No, PONZI scheme ...​UPDATE, MAY 20, 4:30 P.M.: Orange County sheriff's investigators went to investigate a missing person and found a vast Ponzi scheme.Laguna Niguel house flipper William Warren Baker, 59, pleaded guilty today to stealing more than $900,000 from investors in a Ponzi scheme by fr ... More >>

Resistant Culture Headlines Benefit Show for OC Dream Team

Lalo AlcarazImagine they are mohawks​ The DREAM Act is back in the news and a show this Friday in Fullerton featuring Resistant Culture will benefit the local efforts of the Orange County Dream Team. The federal legislation providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrant youth who at ... More >>

Benefit Show for Japan

Alex's Bar

Were You Ripped Off by Hoang Quoc Tathanhlong, Fake Financial Planner Who Allegedly Preyed at Funeral Home?

​Hoang Quoc Tathanhlong, 49, of Westminster, lied about being a certified financial planner while working at a funeral home and stealing more than $650,000 from a widow through fake investments before using the money for his own personal expenses, including buying himself a Mercedes-Benz, prose ... More >>

Comedy Juice College Night

Irvine Improv

Loretta Sanchez Seeks Faster IRS Review of Orange County Pension Plan Changes

​Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) is calling on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to expedite Internal Revenue Service review of Orange County's proposed changes to its employee pension program--not because she believes the IRS will expose flaws but because she's kinda sorta for it and kin ... More >>

The Vandals

House of Blues

Newport Beach Research Firm Predicts It's Going to Get Ugly for Future Retirees

​A Newport Beach investment management firm predicts many Americans are heading toward a retirement disaster and don't even realize it. At least those folks shouldn't feel alone: many of those running big pension funds also don't know "we're headed for a retirement train wreck and it's going to ... More >>

Sunday News Notes

Rizzo: I've been sodomized!​Local news highlights include:Ex-Bell city manager says he is a rape victimIn case you haven't heard: Robert Rizzo, Bell's city manager who paid himself $1.5 million annually, was sexually assaulted. Yep, and Rizzo is naming names. The perpetrator? The LA Times, he says ... More >>

Samuel Eliezer Herr, OC Homicide No. 22: Shot, Dismembered, Body Parts Spread Around

Courtesy of Costa Mesa Police DepartmentSammy Herr went from murder suspect to murder victim.​Originally believing Samuel Eliezer Herr to be the prime suspect in the murder of 23-year-old Irvine resident Juri Julie Kibuishi in his own apartment (see OC Homicide No. 19), Costa Mesa police detective ... More >>

Healthcare Celebration Today, Healthcare Protest Tomorrow

​Supporters of the historic healthcare reform bill signed into law by President Barack Obama will gather in front of the Garden Grove district office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez this afternoon to thank Orange County's only Democratic member of Congress for her yes vote on the controversial legislation ... More >>

Duane Roberts, Anaheim Activist, Announces U.S. Sentate Run

Roberts​If a former community organizer can become president of the United States, why can't a community organizer become a U.S. senator?Longtime Anaheim activist Duane Roberts announced that he will file papers with the Orange County Registrar of Voters today to put his name on the June primary b ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Trabuco Canyon's Lila Rizk Guilty in Massive Real Estate Fraud

UPDATE: At her sentencing in a Los Angeles federal court today, Trabuco Canyon's Lila Rizk received a three-year prison term for her role in a massive mortgage fraud scheme that caused tens of millions of dollars in losses to federally insured banks.​A federal jury on Aug. ... More >>

Real Estate Appraisal Execs Tied to Daniel Sadek Charged With Fraud

Sadek​Daniel Sadek can't seem to keep himself out of the crime files lately.A couple weeks ago it was an armed invasion of the former sub-prime mortgage king's Newport Coast home.Today, the owner of an Irvine real estate appraisal firm associated with Sadek--who September's Vanity Fair ranked No. ... More >>

Comedy Juice College Night

Brea Improv

Gettin' Made: Craft Workshop Wednesday at The Kids are Alright

Crayon Fawns by, you guessed it, Crayon FawnIf you don't have plans Wednesday night and are tired of the summer re-runs on tv, you should make haste for The Kids Are Alright in downtown Long Beach. Kim Kessler, owner of bridal boutique Kiki's Originals, will be teaching a do-it-yourself leather cuf ... More >>

It's a Quick Read 22: Weekend and Monday Edition

Orange County Register: Robbins: The chance of dying in Orange County from a natural disaster is relatively low. This is based on a study Fox News cheerily lables "the death map." . . . Wisckol: A 59-year-old Aliso Viejo woman's description of kissing President Barack Obama on his cheek at ... More >>

Drink Up

Comedy Juice College Night

Chris Gaffney has liver cancer

Chris Gaffney, who for years has been pretty much OC's go-to guy for quality country music playing, singing and songwriting, has been diagnosed with liver cancer. And, like far too many musicians, he needs help to pay for his very costly chemotherapy treatments. Even though Gaffney has health insura ... More >>

Re-drawing the Line

Aeromyth

Comedy Juice College Night

Brea Improv

Fabulous!

Delta Work’s Big Fat Drag Show

Taken to School

Judge dismisses a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by professors alleging class-hour fraud against Chapman University

Beach Break: Cheap drugs

Who doesn't like cheap drugs? Nobody that's who! So lets all jump up and click our heels together in glee because the city of Long Beach has introduced a drug card program that will reduce prescription medication costs by up to 75 percent for its residents! Oh the joy of it all! The UNA Rx Card is ... More >>

Everything Old is New Again

See if by reading its opening paragraph you can guess what sets this story by the San Francisco Chronicle's Greg Lucas apart from the raft of other stories about universal health care that have been appearing in the papers. Trying to forge a consensus among dozens of powerful special interests, the ... More >>

Arnold's New Era Begins

In his inaugural address last Friday, Governor Schwarzenegger announced the beginning of a new chapter in California history, the "post-partisan" era, explaining, "The question is not what are the needs of Republicans or Democrats? The real question is what are the needs of our people?… Post- ... More >>

Indonesian Earthquake Relief

For anyone interested in helping the victims of the massive earthquake in Java, globetrotting raconteur and author of the forthcoming Prisoner of Trebekistan, Bob Harris has helpfully posted on his blog a list of charities assisting the survivors. Bob's post also touches on some of the questions you ... More >>

Illegal Immigrants vs. College Students

Who lives the better life?

It's the Economy, Stupid

Reform-School Congress

A Systematic Rip-Off

Already accused of bilking tenants, developer Argyros may have targeted Vietnamese-Americans

Gifts for the Starving Student