Prosecutors on Thursday searched the Beverly Hills offices of developer Alan Casden, a contender to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, as part of an investigation into possible violations of campaign finance laws in the 2001 city mayoral race.
The 57-year-old Casden is on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans, and since the 1970s, he has developed or acquired about 90,000 apartment units, mostly in Southern California, with a value of $5 billion. He has been heavily involved in developing affordable housing financed, in part, with tax credits.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday September 06, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 3 inches; 112 words Type of Material: Correction
Campaign finance probe -- A headline in the Aug. 22 California section incorrectly identified Alan Casden as the focus of a probe into possible violations of campaign finance laws. The district attorney's Public Integrity Unit and the Los Angeles Ethics Commission are investigating whether employees of Casden's firm, Casden Properties Inc., or its subcontractors were improperly reimbursed for campaign contributions made in the 2001 city elections. The article also erroneously said Casden and firm associates were found guilty of violating federal securities laws. In fact, a jury returned a $185-million civil judgment against Casden, National Partnership Investments Corp. and others last year for violating Securities and Exchange Commission regulations regarding proxy solicitations.
He and his firm have contributed $213,000 that has benefited Los Angeles city candidates in the last four years, according to city Ethics Commission records.
Sources close to the investigation said the ethics panel and the district attorney's Public Integrity Unit are seeking to determine whether employees or subcontractors of the firm have been reimbursed by Casden's company for contributions to city candidates. That practice, known as political money laundering, hides the true source of the contribution. Contributions to City Council candidates were also under inquiry, the sources said.
Casden was out of town Thursday and could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Ronald Turovsky, said he did not know what county prosecutors were focusing on.
"We intend to fully cooperate," Turovsky said. "We are certainly aware of no violations."
Warrants were also served Thursday in Simi Valley, Granada Hills and Encino. One source said the properties were the homes of Casden's employees and the offices of a subcontractor.
Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, would confirm only that the searches were tied to "an ongoing case into suspected campaign contribution violations in the mayoral race in 2001."
Casden has been a donor to local political campaigns for years. Last year, Casden Properties contributed $100,000 to Mayor James K. Hahn's campaign to defeat San Fernando Valley and Hollywood secession.
Casden or his firm has also made small contributions to the campaigns of Hahn, City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo and City Council members Tom LaBonge, Wendy Greuel, Martin Ludlow, Janice Hahn, Alex Padilla and Ed Reyes, city records show.
