Los Angeles Times - 25.08.2019

LATIMES.COM S SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2019B5

The question arose yet
again this year in a lawsuit
lodged by the Bel-Air neigh-
bors against Hadid and the
city. In a legal declaration in
that case, former construc-
tion manager Russell Linch
made claims about alleged
perks for a city inspector on
the Bel-Air project and said
he believed the structure
was unsafe.
Linch also said that Ha-
did had sent his security
guard to a church to do his
community service in his
place. That guard com-
plained to Linch that he was
doing community service for
Hadid without pay, Linch
said in his declaration. And
Linch said Hadid bought re-
frigerators and a vacuum
cleaner for the church.
Hadid “escaped virtually
all punishment in the crimi-
nal case” by having someone
else do the work, and then
appears to have “pur-
chased” the cooperation of
people at the church, attor-
neys for the neighbors wrote
in a filing in the civil case.
Hadid is countersuing
the neighbors, alleging that
one tried to extort him.
He has denied the allega-
tions by Linch, whose com-
pany has sued Hadid for
breach of contract. In June,
Hadid’s attorney Bruce
Rudman called Linch a “dis-
gruntled former construc-
tion manager” and said his
declaration was “completely
false.”
“He testified differently
at his deposition under
oath,” Rudman said, adding
that Linch “was represented
by two attorneys of his own
choosing, and paid for
by him, when he made di-
rectly contradictory state-
ments. He has never been
coerced.”
The Times contacted
Cochran Avenue Baptist
Church, where Hadid was
listed as doing his communi-
ty service. A person who an-
swered the phone said the
church could not comment
and hung up when asked to
identify himself.
Neighbors have repeat-
edly urged the L.A. city at-
torney’s office to investigate
whether Hadid was out of
the country on the dates he

was supposed to be doing

community service.

Last year, when neigh-

bors raised concerns about

Instagram posts that

showed him in Europe, an

attorney for Hadid said he

was posting old photos to

convince his daughter that

he was out of town so he

could surprise her at her

birthday party.

To investigate those

claims, the city attorney’s of-

fice turned to the Assistance

League of Los Angeles,

which it said had obtained

sign-in sheets where Hadid

and other participants

logged their community

service and letters from

three people involved with

the church program saying

that they were not aware of

any fraud or forgery.

At a September hearing

in the criminal case, super-

vising Deputy City Atty.

Michelle McGinnis said the

court could order Hadid to

turn over his passports if the

judge wanted, but “there is

nowhere for the people to go

after a report like this.”

Neighbors again raised

the issue after a woman told

the Daily Mail that she had

met up with Hadid in Eu-

rope, pointing to a text

message that appeared to

place him there on days he

was listed as doing his serv-

ice. At the time, neighbor

Beatriz Horacek urged city

attorneys to call federal offi-

cials to determine whether

Hadid was out of the coun-

try.

“I do not know, or under-

stand, why the L.A. City At-

torney has refused to pick up

the phone,” Horacek wrote

in an email to McGinnis and

City Atty. Mike Feuer last

year.

At a hearing earlier this

month in criminal court, at-

torneys for the city and Ha-

did met with the judge out of

public view in her chambers.

Court records leave it un-

clear who called for the pri-

vate meeting — attorneys for

the city and Hadid said the

judge requested it — and of-

ficials said the judge was

prohibited from providing

any explanation.

“It is customary for such

discussions to be held in

chambers,” said Rob Wilcox,

a spokesman for the city at-

torney’s office.

Wilcox said that addi-

tional evidence, including a

copy of a “relevant portion”

of Hadid’s passport, had

been reviewed and “the

court did not signal any in-

terest in continuing this in-

quiry.” He declined to pro-

vide a report from the Los

Angeles County Devel-

opment Authority, an

agency that monitors court-

ordered community service,

which he said had been

shown to the judge.

“There was not sufficient

evidence to establish a pro-

bation violation,” Wilcox

said in an email.

Attorney Robert Sha-

piro, who is representing

Hadid, said this month that

“the city attorney has looked

into it thoroughly and has

concluded that there is no

evidence whatsoever to sup-

port any of these false allega-

tions.” When asked specif-

ically about the trip to Eu-

rope reported in the Daily

Mail, Shapiro declined to

comment further.

Gary Lincenberg, an at-

torney who is representing

the Horaceks and other

neighbors in the civil suit,

said “multiple independent

sources of evidence” had

been presented to the judge

casting doubt on whether

Hadid did his community

service.

Lincenberg, who is not a

party to the criminal case,

declined to say whether the

city had done enough to look

into the neighbors’ con-

cerns, noting that “discus-

sions about these issues

were held behind closed

doors.”

Did developer skirt his punishment?

DEVELOPERMohamed Hadid two years ago pleaded no contest to criminal charges tied to the construction of this Bel-Air mansion.

Francine OrrLos Angeles Times

HADIDdidn’t perform

his community service,

some neighbors allege.

Jordan StraussInvision

[Hadid,from B1]