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Who needs "The Sopranos"?: George Torres owns the chain of Numero Uno grocery stores located in low-income parts of L.A., and the feds allege that he orchestrated murders, bribed city officials, extorted customers and exploited illegal immigrants. Seven others were named in the federal indictment, including his brother Manuel and two former L.A. city planning commissioners. Name-brand criminal defense attorney Brian Sun says Torres will vigorously contest the charges. From the LAT:
Parts of the 59-count indictment against him read like a Mario Puzo novel: Torres, huddled in a meat locker in a warehouse south of downtown Los Angeles, ordered a hit on a drug dealer who had crossed him. He had his security guards shake down suspected shoplifters for cash. He trafficked in stolen produce and meat — and a load of Tang, the space-age drink powder.
Mr. Zell comes to Washington: The Chicago real estate magnate is lobbying to get federal regulators to grant the waivers that would allow his new investment, Tribune Co., to continue owning both newspapers and TV stations in L.A. and four other cities. Maintaining that arrangement is crucial to the company's financial underpinnings. The waiver request has drawn opposition from several groups, including the United Church of Christ, the Consumer Federation of America and the Teamsters. LAT
Support for Mozilo: The CEO of Calabasas-based Countrywide Financial got another free pass as shareholders rejected a proposal to give them an advisory vote on setting pay for top executives. Countrywide said the so-called "say-on-pay" proposal, which was pushed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (owner of 4,000 shares), won support from 31.7 percent of the votes cast - less than last year. Mozilo has become a poster boy in the effort by shareholder groups to put a lid on huge compensation packages. Reuters
L.A.'s lonely motorists: Nearly nine out of 10 workers drive to their jobs each day, according to the Census Bureau, and 77 percent do it by themselves, tops in the nation. Compare that with 72 percent in Chicago, 63 percent in SF and 51 percent in NY. Daily News
Paperwork affects care: Eight out of 10 California doctors say that patients are paying a price on all the time taken up on administrative work. Insurance company restrictions that are placed on doctors were also cited as a major problem in a survey commissioned by the California Medical Association. That said, 42 percent of the respondents said health care has improved since they started practicing medicine. Ventura County Star
Oscar adjustment: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said it would consider crediting more than three producers as nominees in the best picture category, but only "in a rare and extraordinary circumstance" (whatever that means). The three-producer rule was established eight years ago in order to avoid giving out an Oscar to a "producer" who didn't produce anything. That created its own problems when deserving producers were left out of the mix, as happened last year with the exclusion of two producers for the best-picture nominee "Little Miss Sunshine." NYT
Grazers split: That's as in movie producer Brian and budding novelist Gigi, whose "The Starter Wife" has been turned into a miniseries on USA. The couple's Pacific Palisades home was recently put on the market for $27.5 million, and Brian is considering a move to NY (they’ve been married just under 10 years). By the way, "Starter Wife" stars Debra Messing as a spouse whose powerful studio head husband leaves her for a younger woman. But the NY Post's always reliable Page Six assures us that no third parties are involved.
Another Burkle imbroglio: The L.A. billionaire just can't stay out of the papers - or court. This time, it's over a failed partnership with 28-year-old Italian businessman Raffaello Follieri that has some notable supporting players - as in Bill Clinton and actress Anne Hathaway ("The Devil Wears Prada"). The joint venture involved buying surplus properties from the Catholic Church and redeveloping them. But Burkle, through his investment vehicle Yucaipa Cos., accuses Follieri of "willfully and systematically misappropriating" at least $1.3 million of the $55+ million Yucaipa had sunk into the venture. Follieri calls the allegations "petty." From the WSJ:
Among the purported extravagances: private jet travel for Mr. Follieri and his girlfriend, actress Anne Hathaway; a penthouse apartment in New York used by Mr. Follieri; "massive charges for 'five-star' lodging, meals and entertainment" as well as medical care for Follieri relatives and a dog. Additionally, the suit says, hundreds of thousands of dollars were improperly loaned to the Follieri Foundation, a nonprofit charity run by Mr. Follieri and his family. Though he isn't mentioned in the lawsuit, former president Bill Clinton is both a possible victim and indirect beneficiary of the alleged misdeeds. He is a senior adviser and potential profit participant in the Burkle-managed Yucaipa investment fund, whose money, the suit says, was misused by Mr. Follieri and his firm. But a charitable initiative headed by Mr. Clinton also received a $1 million commitment last year from the Follieri Foundation to vaccinate children in Honduras.
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.