Taxes

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.

Operation Stolen Treasures

Amid the nation's economic meltdown, financial-conspiracy theories fueled a tax-fraud case for the ages

Anaheim's 'Enterprise Zone' Tax Giveaway Creates a Whopping 180 New Jobs in its First Year!

This past Friday was the one-year anniversary of Anacrime's official designation of an 'Enterprise Zone' (AEZ), a nearly citywide effort under the auspices of the the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce to implement and market a business-friendly city with tax breaks to corporations. This ruse was given the ... 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 >>

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 >>

Cindy Ann Su'a, Manager for Reeling Anaheim Police Union, Accused of Embezzling $360k

They say a couple that strays together, stays together.Cindy Ann and John Su'a, both 46 of Whitter, face arraignment Thursday at the Santa Ana Jail: she for allegedly embezzling $360,000 as the Anaheim Police Association office manager, and he for supposedly--and willfully--failing to file tax retur ... More >>

Shann Mou Lee Faces Up to 3 Years and Nearly $70k in Penalties For Filing False Tax Returns

Under a plea deal, a Garden Grove business owner who built small electronic airplane parts for C5 cargo planes and F18 fighters copped this morning to tax fraud.Shann Mou Lee, 69, of Buena Park, pleaded guilty to a one-count criminal information charging him with subscribing to a false income ta ... More >>

Orange County Great Park Gets a $1.4 Billion Puncture in its Balloon

A court in Sacramento today denied the city of Irvine's temporary restraining order request that would prevent the state of California from seizing Orange County Great Park funds. It's part of the city's lawsuit against the state Department of Finance, which has ruled the Great Park is not entitled ... More >>

County of Orange to State of California: You Owe Us $23 Million, Pay Up!

The County of Orange has filed a $23 million claim against the State of California, which is accused of shortchanging the county that much in property tax revenues since 2005.But the dispute was actually set in motion by a complicated funding mechanism and the county's infamous bankruptcy in the mid ... More >>

A List of Food Specials and Freebies on Tax Day!

So have you subscribed to OC Weekly's The Spoon Feed newsletter yet? Do it now by entering your e-mail in that big old red box that you see to the right that says "SIGN UP".I'm subscribed and I got some tips about a few freebies and specials on tax day that I wouldn't have known about otherwise ... More >>

Igor Olenicoff, OC Billionaire, Has Suit Tossed Against Swiss Bank That Hid His Money

Billionaire Igor Olenicoff, who lives in Laguna Beach and oversees Newport Beach-based Olen Properties, lost his bid in federal court to blame Swiss bankers for his guilty plea to felony tax evasion. In a 28-page decision tossing Olenicoff's suit against Zurich-based UBS AG, Judge Andrew J. Guilford ... More >>

Anaheim GardenWalk Tax Breaks Speak of a Tale of Two Cities

​Ahead of yesterday's Anaheim city council meeting, a mailer to city residents from the Orange County Employees Association and numerous news reports on recently approved tax incentives for two future GardenWalk-area hotels made sure for a packed house. Mayor Tom Tait had an idea what would domin ... More >>

State Supreme Court Upholds Abolition of Redevelopment Agencies

​Governor and Norcal Democrat Jerry Brown and Assemblyman and OC Republican Chris Norby don't agree on much, but they do see graying eyebrow to graying eyebrow on abolishing local redevelopment agencies to help close the state budget gap. Today, they and other RDA opponents scored a victory when t ... More >>

Richard and Jolene Engel, High-Flying Society Couple of the '90s, Hid $180 Million in Income

Richard Gardner Engel​In the 1990s, you could not serpentine around a champagne server at a high society soiree in Orange County without bumping into Richard and Jolene Engel. They were everywhere, even landing aboard the P'zazz yacht when the Nordstrom family hosted a private Newport Harbor suppe ... More >>

Pancha Keophimone, Recruiter of Patients in $154 Million Insurance Scam, Cuts a Deal

​A woman who was a "capper"--one who illegally recruits healthy patients to undergo unnecessary and often dangerous surgeries so medical practices can earn health insurance payments--was sentenced today to a year in jail for her role in what prosecutors call "the largest medical fraud prosecution ... More >>

Rick Warren Tweets and Then Removes Debt-Ceiling Jab

"I can see the debt ceiling from here."​Saddleback (mega-) Church's pastor Rick Warren's got a loose Twitter finger again, texting and then deleting a jab at those who want to raise the nation's debt ceiling."HALF of America pays NO taxes. Zero. So they're happy for tax rates to be raised on the o ... More >>

Monica C. Lozano, La Opinion CEO, Gets Visited Today by UC Students and Costumed Disney Workers

Monica C. Lozano​Dozens of University of California students and Disney Resort workers in costumes plan to protest this morning outside the La Opinion office building in downtown Los Angeles.Perhaps this will make sense with a little more context. Another UC tuition hike has been proposed. The uni ... More >>

Dana Rohrabacher Co-Sponsors Bill Saving Pot Clubs Cash

​Everybody's favorite surfing congressman, Dana Rohrabacher, (R-Surf City), has co-authored legislation on Capitol Hill that would save medical marijuana dispensaries untold thousands of dollars per year in tax charges. We heard this amazing news courtesy of our Bay Area sister paper, the SF Weekl ... More >>

MoveOn.org Comes to the Rescue of Taxes Today

​Taxes must be suffering from battered women's syndrome about now. We're all like, "Aw come on, baby. You know I loves ya," Then--BAM!--corporations and rich people rap taxes upside the head, saying they ain't returning to Clinton-era levels. Then we get all lovey-dovey again and--WHAM!--House Rep ... More >>

Feds Arrest Ex-OC Man in Massive Tax Refund Scheme

​News agencies are reporting that a former Orange County resident orchestrated a $763 million tax conspiracy that may have defraud the IRS and U.S. taxpayers of more than $10 million.According to the Associated Press, federal prosecutors in Seattle have charged Ronald L. Brekke, a 54-year-old form ... More >>

Whose Dole Is It, Anyway?

Unauthorized immigrants make up just more than 3 percent of the U.S. population. But they're accused of sucking up public benefits and dodging taxes

Meg Whitman in Garden Grove Today Telling The Jobbed How She is Going to Create Jobs

​Meg Whitman, your Republican nominee for governor, tours Earth Friendly Products in Garden Grove at 10 this morning, before pausing to tell workers how she is going to create jobs.Great. But why share her cure with a bunch of people who already have jobs? Why not face the huddled masses yearning ... More >>

The Super Rich Aren't Like You and Me ... They're Whinier

​A letter to the Wall Street Journal by a Newport Beach real estate executive who believes it would be unfair if the Bush tax cuts were not extended for those who make over $250,000-a-year certainly set off McSweeney's writer Edward Murray. "The Poor Top 2 Percent" on the Huffington Post is Murray ... More >>

Thanh Viet Jeremy Cao Indicted for Allegedly Filing Tax Liens Against Fed Officials, Tax Returns With $20 Billion in Refunds for Himself

​A Rancho Santa Margarita man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Las Vegas, where he also lives, for allegedly filing 22 false liens ranging from $25 million to $300 million against four federal judges and employees of the IRS, Secret Service, Securities and Exchange Commission and the ... More >>

Legalization Could Cut Costs, Increase Consumption of Marijuana: RAND Study

​A new study shows legalization and distribution of marijuana in California could cut the price of cannabis by up to 80 percent and increase consumption.Findings by the RAND Corp. also show revenues from taxing legal pot could be significantly higher or lower than the $1 billion estimated by the s ... More >>

Grand Jury Report Blasts Great Park Financing, Accuses Irvine City Council of Lying, Conflicts

Hot air keeps it afloat.​A new grand jury report: questions whether the Irvine Redevelopment Agency created to usher in development of the Orange County Great Park can fully repay its initial $134 million loan from the city; faults the city of ignoring the poor business climate while churning ... More >>

OC Democrat Asks Republicans To Drop 'No New Tax' Pledge

Photo by Christopher VictorioDemocratic Assembly candidate Melissa Fox has a taxing idea.​According to Melissa Fox, a Democratic Party candidate for Orange County's 70th Assembly District, the problem with California government isn't high taxes, a bloated bureaucracy or the massive $20 billion bud ... More >>

Diane Harkey Stink Smeared on Linda Ackerman, Who Seeks "Dripper" Duvall's Vacated Assembly Seat

Harkey's ethical challenges produced recall calls. Assemblywoman Diane Harkey (R-Dana Point) has endorsed Linda Ackerman to fill the vacancy left by ex-Assemblyman Mike Duvall, who resigned in disgrace quickly after the Weekly's R. Scott Moxley and KCAL/KCBS reporter Dave Lopez exposed the Yor ... More >>

Where Have All the Anti-Tax Crusaders Gone?

When he wasn't running for governor, Fountain Valley's George "Nick" Jesson was associated with the We the People Congress, an anti-tax group that bought an ad in USA Today in 2001 challenging the government's right to tax income. Indeed, Orange County used to be crawling with anti-tax crusade ... More >>

Does Miguel Pulido Work out of a Tax Preparer's Office?

With IRS troubles like his, will Don Papi become Obama's ambassador to Mexico?For years, opponents of SanTana Mayor Don Papi Pulido have openly wondered how an invisible politician can make so much cash that he can afford an estate in the city's ritzy Floral Park neighborhood. His Form 700s have alw ... More >>

DeVore Now Bugs Henley, Boxer AND Scrooge McDuck (Updated)

Barbara BoxerWe vowed to be more sparing in our blog coverage of Irvine Assemblyman/2010 senatorial candidate Chuck DeVore's publicity campaign to seem like the most affably goofy nuclear-power lobbyist in the state. But it's time for an update, because DeVore's gone and made another Don Henley paro ... More >>

Welcome to the Poorhouse: Ah, Tax Time

Collectors for credit-card companies have the phone ringing off the hook, but the messages in the mailbox are worse. Other creditors, the ones not calling because they have miraculously been paid on time, inform that finance charges are being jacked up due to late payments to other creditors. Non-pa ... More >>

Welcome to the Poorhouse: Ring-Ring-Ring!

Please do not take it personally if I do not answer the phone when you call. Bill collectors used to call my home every morning beginning at 8:30. Then it was 8 a.m. Now it can be any hour of the day. They now call my home,  my cell phone and my work lines. One called my wife's main office line ... More >>

A Fortuitously Timed Tax-Denying Conference Comes To Our Tax-Hating County

Man met bril / Flickr / Creative CommonsSpotted on the commute to Weekly world headquarters today: a brown Dodge pickup whose back window read, in blue electricians-tape lettering, "TAX REVOLT!" Spotted on Red County and Orange Juice Blog: recall fever against all the Republicans who supported the s ... More >>

State Taxman Pops Buena Park Doctor and Wife for Alleged Fraud

 The state Franchise Tax Board (FTB) reports today that physician John S. Han, 61, and his wife Sonya Han, 55, were arrested on felony counts of Medicare fraud and filing fraudulent state income tax returns after a search of their Buena Park home. According to FTB special agents, Mr. Han ... More >>

Nonprofits Help Low-Income Families File Tax Returns, Get Credits

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove, Orange County United Way and the Legal Aid Society of Orange County have teamed to sponsor Free Community Tax Days to help families file their income taxes and claim tax credits they may not be aware they are eligible for. Particular focus will be directed ... More >>

Historic $618,000 Settlement Was Money Well-Spent for Owners of Low-Income Stanton Apartment Complex

Saving them from WW2 Japan wasn't enough

Matt Cunningham's Red County/OC Blog has an interesting post today on legislation backed by Representative Loretta Sanchez (D-Anaheim) that would require present-day U.S. taxpayers to pay reparations to World War II residents of Guam. It's not that our citizens or soldiers have ever done anything ... More >>

The Gov's Budget: Who, What, and How Hard?

If you're a college student in California, congratulations-- you play a leading role in Governor Schwarzenegger's new budget plan. The governor believes in you. He believes you're the sort of person who can make a sacrifice for the public good. Instead of turning to, say, big businesses, real est ... More >>

Another good reason to be rich

Sure, there are plenty of good reasons to be rich– don't have to worry about the rising cost of living; the greater likelihood of attracting a pneumatic mate (or at least being able to afford to surgically alter your mate into a more pneumatic state, until a newer, pneumatic-er model comes alo ... More >>

Wreck (of) a Nation

A new board game lets everyone be president . . . until the money runs out

Letters

The Case for Governor Tom McClintock

Why progressives should vote for the most conservative candidate in the race to replace Gray Davis

Air Argyros

The countys most sensational two-day trial youve never heard about

The New Hugh

OCs highest-profile Republican is a liberal in his own back yard

How Bob Dornan Turned Political Defeat into a Windfall for his Family

How to feed your children on political contributions

The Loser Wins

How Bob Dornan turned political defeat into a financial windfall for his family

Singled Out

GOP, Dems join to screw Generation X

Raises From The Dead

Chris Cox's camouflaged class warfare