Substitute investigator tries court’s patience
DOWNTOWN LA — It was anything but business as usual on Monday for six former dealership employees who allegedly bilked hundreds of thousands of dollars from car buyers.
A shuffling of venues across Los Angeles, a judge unfamiliar with the case and allegations of an incompetent government investigator were just a few of the obstacles that stalled proceedings during Monday’s preliminary hearing for the Honda of Santa Monica workers.
Ali Asghar Hussain, Hamid Reza Khaki, Yaprem Zohrab Yaralian, Ahtamet Uersunthornwattana, Yaser Alkasem and Thomas Holterhoff all face felony counts related to the overcharging of customers, according to the District Attorney’s office.
The alleged scam, which occurred from 2000 to 2002, involved the car dealership’s sales representatives tacking on charges of “theft etch” to customers’ contracts without their knowledge. Theft etch marks a vehicle’s parts with traceable numbers in the event of a theft.
Monday’s preliminary hearing, held at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, has been postponed since the defendants’ November arraignment largely because of an attempted shuffling of venues around the county.
Attorneys originally requested the preliminary hearing be moved to the LAX Courthouse. That move was denied by the courts, which instead relocated the case to Beverly Hills. The courts then moved the case back to the Clara The Criminal Justice Center was where the arraignment was held in November, and attorneys first began their botched attempts to change the venue’s location.
Superior Court Judge David S. Wesley assigned the complicated case shortly after 1:04 p.m. to Superior Court Judge Michael E. Pastor, who admitted to having no prior knowledge of it when the preliminary hearing began at 2:37 p.m.
“I know nothing about it,” Pastor told attorneys.
ATTORNEYS MAKE THEIR CASE Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Jeff McGrath, one of two prosecutors handling the case, told the court that the defendants, all of whom worked in the dealership’s finance department, would add a “VT registration” charge to sale contracts, making it appear to car buyers it’s a standard government fee, which it isn’t.
“The (six defendants) would participate in disruptive sales practices to ensure the charge would get on the contracts,” McGrath said.
More than $500,000 of theft etch was sold at Honda of Santa Monica by its six fired employees, according to the DA’s Office. An estimated 1,500 customers who were ripped off can expect to be reimbursed in the next few months by Kramer Motors, Inc., the parent company of Honda of Santa Monica. The settlement, which was signed by a judge on Feb. 8, is separate from the criminal cases against the six defendants.
Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Dana Aratani said the reimbursements range from $100 to $1,000, with the average claim being $400. It’s estimated that Kramer Motors will pay back about $829,000 in reimbursements.
However, the six attorneys representing the six defendants took aim Monday at some of the allegations made of their clients. Gary Lincenberg, representing Khaki, argued that 29 charges of grand theft against the defendants are inappropriate and that what they face should be lowered to a fraud misdemeanor.
“We believe the charges of grand theft should be dropped because (grand theft isn’t what occurred),” Lincenberg said.
All six defendants have been released by the court on their own recognizance pending trial. Each has pleaded not guilty.
Hussain, 37, who was director of finance at the dealership from December of 2000 to June 2002, faces 25 counts related to conspiracy to defraud another of property.
Khaki, 38, who was finance manager from December 2000 to July 2002, faces nine counts related to conspiracy to defraud another of property.
Uersunthornwattana, 44, who was finance manager from January 2001 to August 2001, faces seven counts related to conspiracy to defraud another of property.
Yaralian, 39, named as a coconspirator in the complaint, faces five counts related to conspiracy to defraud another of property.
Alkasem, 43, also named as a coconspirator, faces six counts related to conspiracy to defraud another of property.
Holterhoff, 63, another coconspirator, faces two counts related to conspiracy to defraud another of property.
CONSUMER AFFAIRS OFFICER TESTS PATIENCE John Yacovone, a consumer affairs officer with the county who was assigned to the case only a month ago, proved to be the subject of collective frustration on Monday. Despite the large number of victims involved, Yacovone’s shaky recollections of what victims told him in recent interviews quickly frustrated the defendants’ attorneys, and even the judge.
Robert Jackson, previously in charge of the case, is out of the country and will not be re-assigned it when he returns, according to the DA’s Office.
In order to be able to testify to the quality of his predecessor’s investigative work, Yacovone was required to re-interview the 30 victims in the case in recent weeks. Defense attorneys allege that Yacovone didn’t interview the victims and, therefore, he couldn’t recall basic information about their interview without referring to documents about their claims. It took Yacovone 20 seconds to read and recall, for example, that one of the victims believed theft etch was added to her sales contract without her permission.
“It’s clear the witness is not recalling the information from memory,” said Lincenberg. “All he is doing is reading it. What he is recalling is double hearsay.”
Aratani said Yacovone’s performance on the witness stand had nothing to do with a lack of preparation by the DA’s Office.
“To his credit, (Yacovone) wants to be accurate,” Aratani said after Monday’s proceeding.
After nearly two hours of Yacovone recalling interview discussions by reading his notes, the judge had also became irritated.
“I’m interested in what’s in your mind, not what you wrote,” Judge Pastor told Yacovone. “If we keep going like this, this preliminary hearing is going to take three weeks, not three days.”
The hearing is expected to continue this week and possibly into next week, according to attorneys.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 14, 2006. Read the original PDF.