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| John Leung and Bart Doyle: Happy Days |
FBI Investigating El Monte Transit Village Project - Is A Former Sierra Madre Mayor Involved? - As long time Tattler readers may recall, we discussed the Titan Group's close entanglement in the El Monte Transit Village Scandal quite a ways back, in 2009 to be exact. However, it later seemed that local investigations were going nowhere and our interest had flagged. There were other fish to fry.
But apparently an FBI investigation into the matter has been quietly ongoing for two years. The FBI, which prefers to operate in secrecy when conducting its investigations, hasn't said much about this to anyone. But in today's sometimes enlightening Pasadena Star News, a few beans are now being spilled by some other parties.
But apparently an FBI investigation into the matter has been quietly ongoing for two years. The FBI, which prefers to operate in secrecy when conducting its investigations, hasn't said much about this to anyone. But in today's sometimes enlightening Pasadena Star News, a few beans are now being spilled by some other parties.
And there is a question that must be asked. Has former Sierra Madre Mayor and persistent regressive redevelopment nuisance Bart Doyle been caught up in much of this excitement? As the former Chief Operating Officer of the Titan Group, the organization that was the moving force behind the El Monte Transit Village, he was definitely a part of the picture during its heyday. And since this defunct company is today the apparent object of some ongoing Fed curiosity, Doyle's possible involvement now in this FBI investigation does seem like a fair topic for inquiry.
However, whether or not that is the case is a source for speculation only at this point. This from the Star News:
FBI, federal authorities investigating El Monte Village project - the FBI and other federal authorities are investigating the former developer of the $1 billion El Monte Transit Village project, according to federal, sheriff's and city officials.
El Monte police turned their investigation into alleged fraud by two executives of the Titan Group, John Leung and Jean Lang, over to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. A sheriff's lieutenant said Wednesday the department declined to investigate because the FBI was involved.
"When we were asked by El Monte (police) to investigate the case ... we did a little research and found out the FBI already had a case they were investigating so we weren't going to step on their toes," sheriff's Lt. Sherri Anderson (said). "We did let the FBI know that El Monte asked us to do it, but they were already doing it."
The entire story can be accessed here.
In 2007 things were looking a bit more sunny for the Titan Group and their El Monte Transit Village project. John Leung, the owner of Titan (pictured standing above with our Bart), was quite upfront about all of the excitement being created by his transit village redevelopment project, and said so in this Sep. 25, 2007 article ("Mixed Used Development a Possibility in El Monte"), originally published in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
"There is tremendous interest, and we are working with at least three different national financial institutions," said Leung, who estimated that the company should complete its financing negotiations within the next two months. "But it is looking very good right now."
He said that because of the project's massive scale, Titan is looking at about 10 different funding sources. "They all look very promising," Leung said.
In this same article Bart Doyle, Titan's Chief Operating Officer, also expresses a strong belief in the coming success of this project. Here is what he had to say:
The company also is negotiating with the city for a purchase price on its existing public works yard, as well as with Caltrans, which owns some of the land around the bus depot. Plans also call for Titan to lease property owned by the county's Metropolitan Transportation Authority to complete the project, said Bart Doyle, the company's chief operating officer.
Those acquisitions have yet to be made, though Doyle said that they are being "actively pursued." If all that falls into place, construction on the first phase of the project could begin in about a year, Doyle said. "We still need to map the property, get grading and building permits," Doyle said. "That takes time."
It wasn't too much later that John Leung was arrested for fraud, the Titan Group went belly up, and the $1 billion dollar, 65 acre El Monte Transit Village (aka "the Billion Dollar Bus Station") project fell into ruins, Federal investigations and numerous lawsuits.
And now, 2 years later, another puzzle part to this story has fallen into place. It turns out that this investigation remains very much alive, and it is being conducted by the FBI. An organization widely known for its seriousness and sense of purpose.
Interesting developments to be sure. For more information check out this fascinating article in EB5 Magazine (click here).
(Mod: So that was in September of 2011. About a month later another shoe dropped. Here is how we reported it.)
Former Sierra Madre Mayor Bart Doyle and Others Named In Lawsuit Filed by the City of El Monte - The San Gabriel Valley Tribune is going with a shocker of a story this morning, one that reaches right into the very heart of certain centers of influence here in Sierra Madre.
The article is entitled "El Monte accuses contractor of fraudulently obtaining federal, state and city funds," and can be accessed by clicking here.
This follows several recently published reports that both the FBI and HUD have been involved in the investigations swirling around the ill-fated El Monte Transit Village, pejoratively known as the "Billion Dollar Bus Station." With HUD's concern also centered around improperly used government funding for what has become quite a redevelopment debacle. Here is what the SGV Tribune has for us today:
EL MONTE - The city named three companies and 13 people in a sweeping civil action that lays out a sordid scheme to defraud the city, state and federal government of public money.
The lawsuit centers on two troubled development projects in the city - the expansion of Pacific Place and El Monte Transit Village, both of which were to be built in partnership with the city.
It was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in response to a lawsuit from the developer TV, LLC, which the city contracted to build the El Monte Transit Village - a development of homes and businesses along the 10 Freeway.
An affiliate organization, JT, LLC, was also contracted by the city to build an expansion of Pacific Place, which entailed developing a parking structure, office and warehouse space, according to city documents.
The lawsuit alleges John Leung and Jean Lang controlled both companies, creating them to hide "fraudulent business schemes and criminal activity."
Other people named in the lawsuit, including former Sierra Madre Mayor Bart Doyle, are allegedly associated with "a network of sham entities" that Leung and Lang created to "avoid liability," according to the lawsuit.
As Tattler readers are aware, Bart Doyle is known by many in Sierra Madre as the Godfather of the Downtown Specific Plan, a development scheme that would have turned our quaint and colorful downtown area into the kind of generic and lifeless crap that can be found in many cities throughout the area. It took a voter approved initiative known as Measure V to stop this crass attempt to desecrate much of what makes our foothill village the desirable place to live that it is today.
(Mod: The SGVT article cited above also includes attached legal documents generated by the City of El Monte. As you will see, Bart is unhappily cited there often.)
Which brings us to the present time and today's article in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Despite the long gaps in investigative developments, it appears that the Feds are still quite intrigued by the case. The article is can be found here (link), and this is what it says:
SEC investigating failed El Monte Transit Village, subpoenas many entities for records - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into the federally shuttered El Monte Transit Village, a subpoena issued June 26 shows.
The subpoena signed by Carol Lally of the SEC's Office of Enforcement requests records from or related to TV, LLC; AC Landmarks, LLC; EM Incubator, LP; El Monte Regional Center; Pacifica Manufacturer Direct Business Incubator; and the El Monte Transit Village project.
The SEC's investigation aims to pinpoint every investor, owner, employee, source of income, financial account, office location, telephone service provider and correspondence produced by the listed entities since 2009.
TV, LLC must produce those documents, along with a declaration certifying the records, by 9 a.m. July 10 at the SEC's Los Angeles office.
John S. Leung, an Alhambra resident who headed the Transit Village project until its demise in 2009, acknowledged the SEC's investigation.
"They're looking at some of the transactions," he said. "I'm not worried about that issue."
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shut down the El Monte Regional Center, which included the Transit Village project, in 2011. The regional center allowed foreign investors to obtain green cards through the U.S. EB-5 Visa program in exchange for investing $500,000 locally. The feds terminated the center, which largely funneled investments toward the failed ElMonte Transit Village, after determining it had only attracted two investors and no longer promoted economic growth, according to a San Gabriel Valley Tribune story at the time.
"That was the second time in the history of the program -- that is nearly 20 years old -- in which the USCIS terminated a regional center operation," El Monte Deputy City Attorney Dave Gondek said.
The SEC's investigation relates to the possibility that investors -- likely investing in an attempt to receive an EB-5 work visa -- were taken advantage of and whether the promoters of the regional center were in compliance with securities laws, Gondek said. None of the program's foreign investors landed a green card through the regional center, he said.
"Many of the issues that the SEC is interested in pursuing are things that the city of El Monte has been concerned with for a couple of years now," Gondek said.
Lally and other SEC officials refused to comment on the investigation on Friday.
The SEC has cracked down on regional centers in recent years, Gondek said. In February, the SEC filed charges against a man in Illinois after he allegedly fraudulently sold more than $145 million in securities to more than 250 investors, primarily from China, according to a SEC release.
The city of El Monte remains in litigation with Leung and TV, LLC -- and a number of people associated with the entities named in the subpoena -- over the El Monte Transit Village. El Monte filed a counter claim for $4 million in 2011 against TV, LLC and 13 people, including Jenny Pei Lin, the majority owner of TV, LLC, and the only person named in the SEC subpoena.
Attempts to reach Lin by phone were unsuccessful and an email went unreturned Friday.
El Monte police arrested Leung and TV, LLC executive Jean Lang on suspicion of fraud in 2009, but the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office declined to file charges in the case, which was related to a separate El Monte project, the Pacific Place expansion. To date, neither has been charged with a crime.
Leung, who is a member of the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District's board of directors, said he has not officially received a copy of the subpoena.
"You know who sent this to you, he has a problem, he's not quite together," Leung said before repeatedly refusing to comment on the SEC's investigation.
Here is a question for you. Sierra Madre is currently working closely with the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District regarding some of the problems with our water supply. Would John Leung be playing any role in our negotiations there? And given his numerous El Monte related legal problems, why would John even be involved with that organization today?
Former Sierra Madre Mayor Bart Doyle and Others Named In Lawsuit Filed by the City of El Monte - The San Gabriel Valley Tribune is going with a shocker of a story this morning, one that reaches right into the very heart of certain centers of influence here in Sierra Madre.
The article is entitled "El Monte accuses contractor of fraudulently obtaining federal, state and city funds," and can be accessed by clicking here.
This follows several recently published reports that both the FBI and HUD have been involved in the investigations swirling around the ill-fated El Monte Transit Village, pejoratively known as the "Billion Dollar Bus Station." With HUD's concern also centered around improperly used government funding for what has become quite a redevelopment debacle. Here is what the SGV Tribune has for us today:
EL MONTE - The city named three companies and 13 people in a sweeping civil action that lays out a sordid scheme to defraud the city, state and federal government of public money.
The lawsuit centers on two troubled development projects in the city - the expansion of Pacific Place and El Monte Transit Village, both of which were to be built in partnership with the city.
It was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in response to a lawsuit from the developer TV, LLC, which the city contracted to build the El Monte Transit Village - a development of homes and businesses along the 10 Freeway.
An affiliate organization, JT, LLC, was also contracted by the city to build an expansion of Pacific Place, which entailed developing a parking structure, office and warehouse space, according to city documents.
The lawsuit alleges John Leung and Jean Lang controlled both companies, creating them to hide "fraudulent business schemes and criminal activity."
Other people named in the lawsuit, including former Sierra Madre Mayor Bart Doyle, are allegedly associated with "a network of sham entities" that Leung and Lang created to "avoid liability," according to the lawsuit.
As Tattler readers are aware, Bart Doyle is known by many in Sierra Madre as the Godfather of the Downtown Specific Plan, a development scheme that would have turned our quaint and colorful downtown area into the kind of generic and lifeless crap that can be found in many cities throughout the area. It took a voter approved initiative known as Measure V to stop this crass attempt to desecrate much of what makes our foothill village the desirable place to live that it is today.
(Mod: The SGVT article cited above also includes attached legal documents generated by the City of El Monte. As you will see, Bart is unhappily cited there often.)
Which brings us to the present time and today's article in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Despite the long gaps in investigative developments, it appears that the Feds are still quite intrigued by the case. The article is can be found here (link), and this is what it says:
SEC investigating failed El Monte Transit Village, subpoenas many entities for records - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into the federally shuttered El Monte Transit Village, a subpoena issued June 26 shows.
The subpoena signed by Carol Lally of the SEC's Office of Enforcement requests records from or related to TV, LLC; AC Landmarks, LLC; EM Incubator, LP; El Monte Regional Center; Pacifica Manufacturer Direct Business Incubator; and the El Monte Transit Village project.
The SEC's investigation aims to pinpoint every investor, owner, employee, source of income, financial account, office location, telephone service provider and correspondence produced by the listed entities since 2009.
TV, LLC must produce those documents, along with a declaration certifying the records, by 9 a.m. July 10 at the SEC's Los Angeles office.
John S. Leung, an Alhambra resident who headed the Transit Village project until its demise in 2009, acknowledged the SEC's investigation.
"They're looking at some of the transactions," he said. "I'm not worried about that issue."
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shut down the El Monte Regional Center, which included the Transit Village project, in 2011. The regional center allowed foreign investors to obtain green cards through the U.S. EB-5 Visa program in exchange for investing $500,000 locally. The feds terminated the center, which largely funneled investments toward the failed ElMonte Transit Village, after determining it had only attracted two investors and no longer promoted economic growth, according to a San Gabriel Valley Tribune story at the time.
"That was the second time in the history of the program -- that is nearly 20 years old -- in which the USCIS terminated a regional center operation," El Monte Deputy City Attorney Dave Gondek said.
The SEC's investigation relates to the possibility that investors -- likely investing in an attempt to receive an EB-5 work visa -- were taken advantage of and whether the promoters of the regional center were in compliance with securities laws, Gondek said. None of the program's foreign investors landed a green card through the regional center, he said.
"Many of the issues that the SEC is interested in pursuing are things that the city of El Monte has been concerned with for a couple of years now," Gondek said.
Lally and other SEC officials refused to comment on the investigation on Friday.
The SEC has cracked down on regional centers in recent years, Gondek said. In February, the SEC filed charges against a man in Illinois after he allegedly fraudulently sold more than $145 million in securities to more than 250 investors, primarily from China, according to a SEC release.
The city of El Monte remains in litigation with Leung and TV, LLC -- and a number of people associated with the entities named in the subpoena -- over the El Monte Transit Village. El Monte filed a counter claim for $4 million in 2011 against TV, LLC and 13 people, including Jenny Pei Lin, the majority owner of TV, LLC, and the only person named in the SEC subpoena.
Attempts to reach Lin by phone were unsuccessful and an email went unreturned Friday.
El Monte police arrested Leung and TV, LLC executive Jean Lang on suspicion of fraud in 2009, but the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office declined to file charges in the case, which was related to a separate El Monte project, the Pacific Place expansion. To date, neither has been charged with a crime.
Leung, who is a member of the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District's board of directors, said he has not officially received a copy of the subpoena.
"You know who sent this to you, he has a problem, he's not quite together," Leung said before repeatedly refusing to comment on the SEC's investigation.
Here is a question for you. Sierra Madre is currently working closely with the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District regarding some of the problems with our water supply. Would John Leung be playing any role in our negotiations there? And given his numerous El Monte related legal problems, why would John even be involved with that organization today?
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