CALIFORNIA— The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office sent a press release out on July 28 in relation to 78 felony charges refiled against former Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez and two other accomplices.
The charges allege that Juan Renaldo Rodriguez a.k.a Noguez, 55, his chief appraiser, 62-year-old Mark McNeil and an Arizona accountant Ramin Salari, aged 63, engaged in a public corruption scheme where Noguez was bribed in return for favorable property assessments and unprecedented access to high-level executives.
The original case BA403666 was filed in 2012 but dismissed Monday, July 27 in accordance to an appellate court decision in May, due to a procedural delay. It has now been refiled as case BA488826.
The trio together face counts of conspiracy to commit grand theft and 14 counts each of misappropriation of public funds and grand theft.
The release further details: “Noguez alone faces an additional three counts of accepting a bribe, two counts each of embezzlement by a public or private officer and perjury by declaration as well as one count of public records violation. Additionally, Salari, the tax consultant, faces seven counts of grand theft, nine counts of embezzlement by a public or private officer and 23 counts of bribing an executive officer. Noguez and Salari also are jointly charged with two counts of grand theft.”
The alleged felonies took place from 1999 to 2011 and resulted in the loss of more than $10 million for the County of Los Angeles. The defendants pleaded not guilty on July 27. They are scheduled to return on August 12 in Department 50 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
The bail for each individual is set at $1.16 million. If convicted as charged, Noguez faces a possible maximum sentence of 36 years in state prison. Salari faces 59 years in prison and McNeil faces 22 years in state prison.
