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Developer sentenced to prison for bribing ex-county employee

by City News Service • December 16, 2022 12 Comments

LOS ANGELES – A commercial real estate developer was sentenced Thursday, Dec. 15, to four years in federal prison for paying off a Los Angeles County employee in exchange for help obtaining a government lease worth $45 million.

Arman Gabaee, 61, of Beverly Hills, was also sentenced to two years under supervised release after his release from prison and ordered to pay a fine of $1.1 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Gabaee pleaded guilty in May to a federal bribery count.

Gabaee, a co-founder and co-managing partner of the Charles Company, a real estate development firm, admitted paying cash bribes to Thomas Shepos, 72, of Palmdale, who was then employed in the county’s real estate division. According to federal prosecutors, Shepos’ job involved negotiating leases for the county to rent office space from private parties, and he had “significant autonomy to contractually bind the county.”

Gabaee was pushing to have Los Angeles County enter into a 10-year, $45 million lease to rent space in the Hawthorne Mall — which Gabaee owned through one of his companies and was renovating — for the Department of Public Social Services and other county departments, according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court. Along with monthly payments of $1,000, Gabaee offered to buy Shepos a $1.1 million home in Santa Rosa wine country in exchange for signing off on the lucrative lease.

“This defendant gamed the system during a seven-year bribery spree designed to expand his real estate empire,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said 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.”

In 2016, Shepos began cooperating with the FBI, and officials recorded conversations with Gabaee, who also uses the last name of Gabay, according to the 2018 criminal complaint against the developer.

Shepos pleaded guilty in November 2018 to accepting bribes and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 19, 2023. One of the individuals from whom Shepos admitting receiving bribes was Gabaee, court papers show. As part of his job, Shepos was able to request and receive proposals from private real estate developers such as Gabaee, who wanted to lease their buildings to county departments.

Previous related stories:

Developer pleads guilty to bribing ex-county employee

Developer agrees to plead guilty to bribing ex-county employee

Former L.A. County public official agrees to plead guilty in bribery case

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Filed Under: Crime/ Safety, Home, Los Angeles County, Palmdale

12 comments for "Developer sentenced to prison for bribing ex-county employee"

  1. Ken Singhton says

    December 17, 2022 at 1:15 pm

    Are there penalties and punishments for politicians who give no bid contracts to their political contributors? Asking for a local politician.

    Reply
    • no flag says

      December 17, 2022 at 5:23 pm

      Not that I’ve noticed on the federal level. Why should the county or state be held to a higher standard?

      Reply
  2. Fern Street Mafia says

    December 17, 2022 at 11:36 am

    Shepos was a regular in Lancaster. Keep digging.

    Reply
    • Clara says

      December 18, 2022 at 5:08 pm

      Keep digging is right!!!!

      Reply
  3. Yehuda Finkelstein says

    December 17, 2022 at 9:06 am

    In God We Trust
    In public employees, not so much…

    Reply
  4. S. Holmes says

    December 17, 2022 at 8:39 am

    Keep digging. Uncover what Shepos did in Lancaster. It will shed light on a lot of monkey business.

    Reply
  5. Real Estate Mogul says

    December 17, 2022 at 2:11 am

    “…Mr. Gabaee undermined confidence in the integrity and fairness of our public institutions.”

    The politicians do that on a daily basis.

    Reply
    • Bob says

      December 17, 2022 at 3:30 am

      100% correct.

      Reply
    • Clara says

      December 18, 2022 at 5:06 pm

      I agree! The fact is however that our government employee, Shepos, is the one who did all the above and allegedly with many. He should get equal if not more then Gabaee.

      Reply
  6. FWB says

    December 16, 2022 at 6:33 pm

    The penalty for accepting the bribe should be ten fold the penalty for offering the bribe.

    God how I despise Federal, State, and local government officials.

    What’s your thoughts Tim Scott?

    Reply
    • Tim Scott says

      December 17, 2022 at 12:59 pm

      I dunno on the “tenfold” but I certainly think both sides should do serious time.

      Reply
    • Clara says

      December 18, 2022 at 4:58 pm

      Ten fold would send a well needed message!!!

      Reply

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