Newport Beach attorney accused of misappropriating $10 million to fund lavish Vegas lifestyle

• February 24, 2023

A Newport Beach attorney allegedly scammed a lender out of $10.2 million in 2022 to fund a lavish lifestyle that included jewelry, cars, around-the-clock gambling and a six-month stay at a swanky Las Vegas resort.

LDR International Limited, based in the British Virgin Islands, is suing Sara Jacqueline King, 39, who operates King Family Lending and is a partner of the King Reuben law firm, for breach of contract, fraud and theft.

“King Lending engaged in a massive fraud on the plaintiff,” states the 33-page lawsuit filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court.

King did not respond to a phone call and an email seeking comment. Her law office in Newport Beach purportedly is no longer in operation. She has not been charged with a crime.

Newport Beach attorney Sara King is accused of using $10.2 million intended for borrowers to finance her lavish Las Vegas lifestyle. (Image via U.S. District Court lawsuit)

According to the complaint, LDR International extended 97 loans to King Lending for third-party borrowers from January to October 2022.

Phony collateral

The borrowers’ loans purportedly were secured by collateral that included luxury automobiles, boats, yachts, jewelry, watches, valuable coins and earnings from guaranteed professional sports contracts, says the suit.

In each instance, King allegedly provided LDR International with phony title documents, appraisals, photographs and contracts, as well as proof of funding through cashier’s checks with the borrowers’ names redacted.

“Because the payee name was redacted, plaintiff could never verify that the funds were actually loaned to the third-party borrower,” the suit states. “In fact … there were no payments made by any third-party borrowers because there were no third-party borrowers or loans.”

LDR International alleges in the suit that King spent the majority of loan funds on an extravagant lifestyle at the Wynn Las Vegas resort, where she lived for six months, and gambled “24/7.”

The complaint also includes text from several emails King purportedly sent to LDR International bragging about her success in making lucrative third-party loans.

“Finally, my favorite and the most secure type of loan deal has finally arrived,” King purportedly wrote in a May 14, 2022, email. “Lending against guaranteed sports contracts. There is a professional hockey player who has a guaranteed contract for $3 million a year. He wants to borrow $500k for 6 months. Because it’s a major sports contract our maximum rate we can charge is 6%. Happy to offer you 4% as opposed to 3.6% of the money so it’s lucrative for you.”

King also sent LDR International a photo of herself with NFL quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen on a Las Vegas golf course in June 2022 to demonstrate her connection to high-profile athletes, the suit states.

Detective work

Ronald Richards, a Beverly Hills attorney representing LDR International, took matters into his own hands to prevent King from gambling away what was left of his client’s funds. He alerted various Las Vegas casinos of her alleged activities and asked employees to notify him if she was spotted.

“She would literally go from one place to another,” Richards said. “I couldn’t stop her from gambling.”

Richards finally hit the jackpot when a cocktail waitress at Resorts World Las Vegas, who allegedly had been victimized by King, snapped a photo of her seated at a gaming table wearing a white cap. The attorney sent the picture to casino security officials who used facial recognition technology to identify and locate King, who was escorted off the property.

Newport Beach attorney Sara King purportedly gambling at Resort World Las Vegas in 2022 (Courtesy of Ronald Richards)

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Some money recovered

Richards has been able to recover a little less than $2 million King allegedly misused. However, he considers the funds as interest because she hasn’t made any additional payments.

King’s ex-husband, Kamran Pahlavi, who has since fled to Morocco, has substantiated allegations of King’s fraudulent activities, the lawsuit says.

Meanwhile, King, who claims to have only $11.98 in her bank account, allegedly sent an email to LDR International on Feb. 9, requesting more money so that she can make back the funds she stole, according to the suit.

Richards said he has received several proposals from dubious individuals and companies seeking to take advantage of King’s financial misdeeds. A purported concert ticket-selling company in Jacksonville, Florida, recently offered to assume King’s $10.5 million debt provided it is paid $1.5 million.

“A case like this brings weirdos out of the woodwork,” said Richards, who has reported King to the State Bar of California. “I am not going to have my client wire a penny to any internet hucksters operating or purporting to operate with Ms. King.”

​ Orange County Register 

Will the Dodgers move Mookie Betts out of the leadoff spot?

• February 24, 2023

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Mookie Betts has been the leading man in the Dodgers’ offense almost since he arrived in Los Angeles. But Dave Roberts said he is at least considering moving Betts out of the leadoff spot this season.

“Yeah. I’m thinking about it,” the Dodgers manager said Friday. “I think having that discussion is thoughtful, makes sense, given the fact that you don’t expect him to steal bases like he has in the past. He’s shown more power, which potentially could have been more production as far as runs batted in. So I think having that discussion is responsible.

“I don’t know how that manifests itself. But, yeah, I’m thinking about that.”

The Dodgers tried that – briefly – in the truncated 2020 season. To start the season, Max Muncy hit leadoff against right-handed hitters with Betts second. Against lefties, Betts batted first.

It didn’t last long. Muncy suffered a fractured finger when he was hit in the hand late in the preseason and slumped. Betts took over the leadoff spot, primarily in front of Corey Seager, in August and the Dodgers’ offense took off.

At the time, Betts said he was more “comfortable” hitting leadoff. Now, he says it doesn’t matter and he’s open to batting anywhere in the lineup.

“I think that was just how the roster was constructed. And at the time I did care,” Betts said of the 2020 experiment. “Now I don’t. Now it’s whatever. I’m to the point where it doesn’t matter.”

Why did that change since 2020?

“Just a year older and my care factor for it is gone,” Betts said. “It is what it is. Just go do whatever he says do and don’t worry about it.”

Roberts acknowledged moving Betts out of the leadoff spot now would be largely motivated by a desire to take advantage of his power. Twenty-six of Betts’ career-high 35 home runs last season came with no one on base.

“It makes sense – but who knows if I’m going to hit 35 homers again, you know what I’m saying?” Betts said. “That’s why I say I don’t care about it. Things can change. Just day by day, step by step, at-bat by at-bat – no matter whether I’m first or last, it’s still the same thing. It just took a little time to understand it.”

Betts was in the leadoff spot 242 of his 254 starts in 2021 and 2022 – even with Trea Turner providing an experienced alternative. There is no obvious alternative now.

“The thing is, if you’re talking about moving Mookie, you’ve also got to have a better option, an option that makes sense,” Roberts said, acknowledging that he didn’t know who might be a better option.

One of the two teams in Thursday’s intra-squad game had Betts at the top of the order, followed by Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Muncy – a right-left, right-left order that Roberts said “makes sense” as a starting point.

“It’s going to be hard to go wrong,” Roberts said.

“It’s just kind of trying to figure out – Mookie at the top, is it best? Where to put JD (Martinez), where to put Will Smith, where’s Max? I don’t think there’s a right answer. I think as we have conversations and let things play out it’ll kind of show itself.”

FORMER FIRST-ROUNDER RETIRES

When minor-leaguers report to the Dodgers’ training complex this spring, their first-round pick from the 2017 draft won’t be among them. Outfielder Jeren Kendall notified the team this winter that he was retiring.

“He called this offseason and just said he wanted to go back to school and wanted to move on from playing for now,” Dodgers director of player development Will Rhymes said. “Obviously we love Jeren, think he’s super talented, love the person and we support the decision even though we felt he had some career left in front of him.”

Kendall, 27, was the 23rd player selected in the 2017 draft and signed with the Dodgers for a $2.9 million bonus. The Dodgers were attracted by his athleticism and an enticing combination of power and speed. But even during his career at Vanderbilt, Kendall’s game featured a lot of swing and miss. That got more pronounced as a professional. Kendall hit just .209 and struck out in 39% of his at-bats.

He never made it to Triple-A. Meanwhile, 20 of the 22 players selected ahead of him in the 2017 draft have reached the major leagues. Rhymes acknowledged that Kendall “seemed to be” frustrated by the lack of progress in the adjustments he tried to make.

“He’s worked really hard. But to feel that maybe it was a little stagnant and wasn’t making the progress, I think, is fair,” Rhymes said. “He was a good worker. He always put forth maximum effort. Sometimes the performance in games takes time to catch up to that work. Maybe we were right on the edge of it clicking. Or maybe not. We don’t really know.

“It just didn’t work out – at least as of now – and he decided to move on.”

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ALSO

Roberts said Miguel Vargas will play second base in the Dodgers’ Cactus League opener against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday – even though he won’t be swinging the bat. Vargas suffered a hairline fracture in the pinkie finger on his right hand and has not been cleared to resume hitting.

“He’ll play, call it, five innings on defense,” Roberts said. “But you can let the Brewers know he’ll be taking.”

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Ana mayor hired private security after receiving death threat

• February 24, 2023

Three weeks into her new mayoral job, Valerie Amezcua received a death threat.

Worried for her safety, the new Santa Ana mayor hired private security to do a threat assessment and accompany her at home, City Hall and events for about two weeks.

Meanwhile, Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez said he’s also been the target of threatening behavior, ranging from a local blog asking how he should die to police officers allegedly parking their patrol cars outside his home.

Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua received a death threat, prompting her to hire private security guards for a couple of weeks in January. (Photo courtesy Courtney Lindberg Photography)

On Tuesday, the City Council agreed to pay Amezcua’s security tab, up to $1,500, and set up a process that could allow councilmembers to be compensated for such bills in the future.

“Being in (the) office these days is not for the faint of heart, and it comes with the good and the bad,” Amezcua said.

Amezcua, a retired Orange County probation supervisor, said she doesn’t feel safe.

“I would like to feel safe and secure as the mayor of Santa Ana, but that’s not possible with the current situation,” she said. “Hopefully, this will be the last death threat I receive.”

Amezcua was in her City Hall office on Jan. 3 when a death threat against her was phoned into the city manager’s office. Amezcua said she wasn’t immediately notified but was told of the call 24 hours later.

“My husband was furious,” Amezcua said in an interview.

“He said, ‘You were in the office. Why didn’t they share it with you? You walked to the car by yourself,’” she said.

“The chief didn’t call and say, ‘We can send an undercover officer and go with you until the threat is contained,’” she continued.

Instead, Amezcua hired a private firm that for three days involved security guards checking her home, the council chamber, parking areas and event locations, before and after her arrival. For about two weeks, a security guard stayed in front of her house or accompanied her every day, taking 12-hour shifts, she said. No one has been arrested, as of Friday, for phoning in that threat.

The cost for the private firm was about $1,000. And Amezcua asked the city to reimburse her.

To do that, the council needed to adopt a resolution and take a public vote — since expenses like these are not already covered under existing reimbursement criteria, like travel and office expenses — and the council did just that on Tuesday night.

But City Attorney Sonia Carvalho warned councilmembers that if they want to pay upfront for expenses that fall outside current policy, they do so at their “own risk.” Under Santa Ana’s charter, they can only be reimbursed for items such as security if the council approves the expense via a resolution, she said. So no future reimbursement is guaranteed, she explained, and it’s up to the council to approve it each time.

Meanwhile, Amezcua hinted that a proposal from the police department is in the works “to protect the council and mayor.”

Hernandez, a councilmember since 2020, said he’s seen threats come from different quarters.

Last year, a city representative intervened and asked a local blogger to take down a poll that asked readers how Hernandez should die.

And Hernandez said earlier that summer both he and a relative were also threatened. That threat prompted the city to put out a statement vowing to investigate threats and denounce “any person or organization that uses anonymous websites and social media posts to intimidate or threaten the City’s employees or elected officials.”

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Family of unarmed man killed by Anaheim police seeks $20 million
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Santa Ana council offers blistering rebukes to police who play Disney songs to thwart public video

“The City Council wants to make it absolutely clear that it will not tolerate threats against public officials and employees of the City of Santa Ana,” the statement said.

Hernandez also accused Santa Ana police of harassing him ever since the death of his cousin, Brandon Lopez, who was killed by Anaheim police during a standoff in Santa Ana on Sept. 28, 2021, involving both police departments.

Hernandez, along with other family members, was at the site when Lopez was fatally shot. Hernandez immediately called what happened a murder at the hands of police. In July, Lopez’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana.

Hernandez has taken other stances calling out police for alleged wrongdoing, including officers playing copyrighted Disney music to avoid being videotaped near the councilmember’s home last year.

For over a year, Hernandez said, officers have taken to parking their patrol cars outside his home, sometimes blocking his driveway. Hernandez shared photos and video showing police cars parked outside his home.

“The public can see I’ve had increased interactions with police in my neighborhood,” Hernandez said. “I feel this is an attempt to threaten me, to silence me and to intimidate me.”

“My message to them: ‘This doesn’t stop me from doing the honorable thing, fighting for justice and peace,’” he said.

A Santa Ana police spokesperson said the department “is unaware of any verifiable information or instances of harassment involving Santa Ana Police Officers toward Councilman Hernandez.”

“If our Department becomes aware of any alleged misconduct involving any of our officers, we have policies to ensure we investigate the alleged misconduct,” said Sgt. Maria Lopez.

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​ Orange County Register 

LAFC vs. Galaxy season opener at the Rose Bowl called off

• February 24, 2023

No one wants to be stuck in traffic while it rains in Los Angeles, especially the city’s rival Major League Soccer teams.

With heavy downpours and chances of thunderstorms expected across the area into Saturday, the season opening “El Trafico” has been postponed due to safety considerations, the L.A. Galaxy, the Los Angeles Football Club and the league announced Friday, one day before their scheduled early evening kickoff at the Rose Bowl.

More information about the rescheduled match at the Rose Bowl will be announced at a later date. Tickets originally purchased for Saturday’s opener will be honored.

A flood watch remains in effect through the afternoon on game day, according to the national weather service, with rainfall rates forecasted up to an inch an hour as a storm from the Gulf of Alaska brings the coldest temperatures of the winter so far.

Light rain and temperatures in the low 40s were expected during Saturday’s match in Pasadena, pitting the defending MLS Cup champions and their five-time league champion rivals in what was trending toward a sellout crowd and a new MLS attendance record.

LAFC will open its season hosting the Portland Timbers on March 4 at BMO Stadium at 1:30 p.m. PT.

The LA Galaxy begins its 2023 by visiting FC Dallas next Saturday at Toyota Stadium at 5:30 p.m. PT.

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​ Orange County Register 

The U.S. Supreme Court shouldn’t mess with the internet by limiting Section 230 protections

• February 24, 2023

It’s not often some arcane section of the regulatory code is so universally reviled that it’s known by its section number. Such is the case with Section 230, which was originally included in the federal Communications Decency Act – the 1996 law designed to protect minors from accessing obscene materials in the emergent internet.

The broader law hasn’t achieved its goals, but Section 230 has – without exaggeration – shaped the development of the modern internet despite its mere 26 words: “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”

Explainer: Section 230

That means such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are not liable for their users’ posts. A publisher is responsible for content on its website or publication because it edits and reviews the material. A platform merely hosts what others publish. Without Section 230, any one of millions of potentially inflammatory comments would open these companies to crippling litigation.

Section 230 has become a hot button for social-media critics on the Right and Left because of the gray area of content moderation. Platforms have posting rules and they employ moderators to remove content that violates those rules. Their decisions are subjective and often controversial – such as when companies banned certain users or removed COVID-19 “misinformation.”

Related: Calling Section 230 a ‘Big Tech handout’ is a lie. Here’s why.

Conservatives accuse the platforms of going too far by censoring their viewpoints. Progressives accuse the companies of not going far enough by allowing the proliferation of hate speech. Both sides have focused their ire on that liability protection. Many voices – from conservative think tanks to the Biden administration – want Section 230 eliminated or “reformed.”

Now the U.S. Supreme Court has taken up the matter in a case known as Gonzalez v. Google. The plaintiffs are the parents of a California college student who was killed in a terrorist attack in Paris in 2015. The family claims that social-media firms (the case is now limited to Google) didn’t sufficiently police their sites to remove extremist content from Islamic radical groups.

One certainly can argue that the companies did not do enough to remove Islamic State content from their sites, but if the family’s lawsuit succeeds it could, as the New York Times explained, “have potentially seismic ramifications for the social media platforms that have become conduits of communication, commerce and culture for billions of people.”

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The court could take any number of approaches, but if it eliminates Section 230 the platforms would have a stark choice: Either behave as publishers and review everything that users post on their sites or take a hands-off approach. The former will require armies of moderators and almost certainly will lead to more claims of censorship. The latter would mean anyone could post anything, opening the sites to extremists and spammers.

Some groups have called for reforming Section 230, a middle approach that the court could embrace. Yet reforms – such as limits on what types of posts the platforms can moderate – ultimately depend upon value judgments. That would lead to a similar result to eliminating the protection by leaving decisions in the hands of courts or regulators.

We’re stuck waiting to see what the high court will do, but we suspect that any changes to Section 230 will only make matters worse.

​ Orange County Register 

Depeche Mode adds more Memento Mori Tour dates in Southern California

• February 24, 2023

After announcing the fall leg of its Memento Mori Tour last week, Depeche Mode has added two more local evenings to the tour.

The band is already slated to perform at the Kia Forum in Inglewood on March 28, but added Dec. 10 at the Inglewood venue and and Dec. 15 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles in the fall. Due to popular demand, Depeche has just announced Dec. 12 at Kia Forum and Dec. 17 at Crypto.com Arena.

Tickets for the newly added shows will go on sale Wednesday, March 1 at 10 a.m. at depechemode.com.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees recently released their studio single, “Ghosts Again,” and are preparing to drop “Memento Mori,” their 15th studio album, on March 24.

The new album follows their 2017 album, Spirit,” which reached No. 1 on the charts. The supporting tour for the album was successful and their largest tour to date. The tour spanned across Europe and North America with 130 shows that brought out more than 3 million fans, marking it one of the year’s highest-grossing tours.

Depeche Mode last performed in Southern California for The Global Spirit Tour five years ago. It spent four nights at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in 2017 and returned to Honda Center in Anaheim in 2018. This will also be the band’s first tour without keys player Andrew “Fletch” Fletcher, who died in May at the age of 60 after suffering an aortic dissection at his home.

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​ Orange County Register 

Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Scream Break combines Halloween with Spring Break

• February 24, 2023

What do you get when you combine Spring Break with Halloween? The new Scream Break at Six Flags Magic Mountain takes two seasonal holiday traditions and mashes them together into a first-of-its-kind spring-meets-fall Fright Fest.

The Scream Break after-hours, separate-admission event will run on 14 select nights from March 18 to April 16 at the Valencia amusement park.

SEE ALSO: What’s next as Fright Fest continues to improve at Six Flags Magic Mountain

Scream Break will feature two haunted mazes near the Full Throttle coaster and three scare zones all with a “chilling Spring Break twist.”

DJs will spin haunted tunes in Full Throttle Plaza and DC Universe during the events. Devilish specialty food and drinks will include sangria blood bags and syringe jello shots.

SEE ALSO: Wonder Woman coaster delivers plenty of airtime and hang time at Six Flags Magic Mountain

Several roller coasters will run in the dark including Wonder Woman Flight of Courage, Twisted Colossus, Full Throttle, Goliath, Batman the Ride and Scream.

Scream Break will run on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9 p.m. to midnight with pre-event mix-in beginning at 7:30 p.m. Unlike the Fright Fest events during Halloween, the hard-ticket after-hours Scream Break events are not included with season passes and memberships or daily admission.

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Magic Mountain has not announced Scream Break prices, but the park will offer an Extreme Pass good for all 14 nights that includes parking.

Six Flags is rolling out Scream Break events at other warmer weather parks. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo and Six Flags Fiesta Texas have set prices at $35 to $40 for a single night and $160 to $200 for the all-access Extreme Pass. Six Flags Over Texas is also hosting a Scream Break event, but hasn’t announced prices yet.

​ Orange County Register 

The bizarre story of Assemblymember Mia Bonta’s obviously unethical committee assignment

• February 24, 2023

If we’re talking about teachable moments, Assemblywoman Mia Bonta has had her share over the past few weeks.

The Oakland Democrat came under fire recently when it became known that she had been put in charge of the Assembly budget subcommittee overseeing the California Department of Justice, which her husband, Attorney General Rob Bonta, is directly in charge of.

This is obviously unethical. It’s also totally unnecessary since there are 79 other members of the Assembly who could have been chair of that particular subcommittee. The easiest thing would have been for Mia Bonta to swap committee assignments and move on.

Bonta refused to do that. She first denied that there was anything wrong. Then, after realizing the story wasn’t going away, she announced last Sunday she would be recusing herself from matters involving the state DOJ. This would have been functionally impossible since she would have remained the chair of the committee and could exert influence on committee members regardless.

Then, on Thursday, the issue died an ignoble death when jurisdiction of DOJ’s budget was shifted to the State Administration subcommittee, which is absurd, but at least removes the conflict. And to be clear, there was a conflict. This is not some right-wing conspiracy.

As the generally left-wing Los Angeles Times editorial board wrote: “Having Bonta chair the budget subcommittee that is responsible for proposing and overseeing the funding of her spouse’s agency is inappropriate because it can create the perception of preferential treatment.”

Indeed. Who knows why Bonta refused to see the problem. Maybe work in the Bonta household really isn’t discussed, because as attorney general and a politician, Rob likely (hopefully!) saw the conflict.

As reported by KCRA’s Ashley Zavala, who broke the story, the arrangement seemed to run afoul of Department of Justice ethical guidelines. And as a former Assembly staffer, I assure you Assembly ethics training would have frowned on it as well.

Bonta was also publicly egged on by Speaker Anthony Rendon, who appointed her to the subcommittee. Rendon insisted she would be “unbiased.” I guess that solves everything!

If Bonta could truly be unbiased toward her husband’s livelihood, good for her. But that would have made her different from everyone else who prefers their own family.

Rendon of course is not the best judge of ethics when it comes to determining committee chairs. Not too long ago, he allowed Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, to serve as a committee chair, even though he was under a restraining order for allegedly beating his wife.

Hernandez was a supporter of Rendon, so Rendon stood by him. Bonta, on the other hand, is a big supporter of Rendon’s successor as Assembly speaker, Robert Rivas.

Perhaps Rendon did this to embarrass Bonta for backing Rivas, which makes more sense than everyone simply being clueless about conflicts of interest. If that’s true, Rendon had to take a reputational hit as well, but he survived backing an alleged wife beater and is termed out, so he might not have cared.

Mia Bonta certainly made her own mistakes though. Instead of simply acknowledging the conflict and moving on, she self-immolated. Bonta blamed concerns about her conflict of interest on racism and sexism and on people being ignorant of the legislative process, which is all nonsense.

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Bonta now sits atop a hollowed-out committee and the Department of Justice’s budget is now under the jurisdiction of the State Administration committee, proving that current leadership treats life in the Capitol as a joke. I wrote two weeks ago about the soft corruption that dominates the Capitol and this only proves my point.

I’ve never met Bonta, but she seems like she has a sincere desire to make a difference in her district and this state. I urge her not to let this whole thing make her bitter and vindictive like many of her colleagues. I also hope that she remembers when she sees her colleagues being jerked around — even the Republicans — that petty games in the Legislature do not serve the interests of constituents.

Follow Matt Fleming on Twitter @FlemingWords

​ Orange County Register