BEVERLY HILLS—On Thursday, December 15, a Beverly Hills real estate developer was sentenced to four years in prison for bribing a Los Angeles official. According to reports, the case is considered one of the biggest corruption cases in Los Angeles history. 

Arman Gabaee, 61, of Beverly Hills, pleaded guilty to one count of bribery in May and has been ordered to pay a fine of $1,149,000. He is the co-founder and co-managing partner of the Charles Co., a Hollywood-based commercial and residential real estate firm. 

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Gabaee paid roughly $1,000 every month to Thomas J. Shepos, 72, of Palmdale, a high-level official in Los Angeles County’s Real Estate Division, for preferential treatment on leases, better contract terms and access to nonpublic information between the years of 2010 to 2017. 

As a senior official in the county’s real estate division, Shepos negotiated leases between property owners and the county. The leases were subject to approval by the Board of Supervisors.

Shepos was investigated by the FBI back in 2016 and was cooperative with officials. In five months, Gabaee was recorded paying Shepos $6,000 in cash bribes during meetings in cars, restaurants and men’s restrooms. He offered to buy an $1.1 million home in Santa Rosa for Shepos that same year in exchange for the official’s help securing a 10-year, $45 million lease from the county. 

“This defendant gamed the system during a seven-year bribery spree designed to expand his real estate empire,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada in a statement. “The scheme culminated in a massive million-dollar bribe that was motivated by Mr. Gabaee’s immense greed. By facilitating this pay-to-play system, Mr. Gabaee undermined confidence in the integrity and fairness of our public institutions.”

Assistant U.S. Atty. Lindsey Greer Dotson asked U.S. District Judge George H. Wu for a harsher punishment of nine years which he rejected. He did agree to the recommendation that Gabaee pay a $1.1 million fine by March 2023.  

About 150 supporters wrote letters to the judge seeking leniency for Gabaee, including some expressing gratitude for the developer’s gifts to charity, according Robert Shapiro, his attorney.

Shapiro wanted no prison time for his client and instead asked for 18 months of home confinement.