Firm Bilked City, L.A. Officials Say

The Los Angeles city attorney announced Monday that he has filed criminal charges against Prestige Parking and its owner, alleging that they withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue from 29 lots, including several in the downtown area.

City Controller Laura Chick, who recently conducted an audit of commercial parking lots, estimated that at least $400,000 in parking taxes collected by Prestige Parking were not paid to the city during at least three years, although the case filed Friday does not specify a dollar amount.

Los Angeles charges a 10% tax on all city parking fees, which are expected to bring in $75 million this year from an estimated 1,800 commercial lots.

The 310-count misdemeanor criminal complaint against Prestige Parking and owner Sohrab “Sam� Sahab is in addition to a civil lawsuit that seeks to recover the taxes, City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said at a City Hall news conference with Chick.

“We charge that these rip-off artists systematically pocketed the 10% tax they were supposed to give to the city,� Delgadillo said. “Prestige Parking and its owner thought that because they operated a cash business they could hide income and get away with it, get away with bilking the city. They couldn’t have been more mistaken.�

One-third of the 29 Prestige-run lots looked at by investigators never previously obtained a city permit to operate, and others had permits that had lapsed, Delgadillo said.

He said that the city had settled a previous court case against the company when Prestige agreed to get all necessary permits.

Larry Noe, an attorney representing Prestige Parking, said the firm has operated within the law. He said the firm had recently filed a $5-million claim against the city, charging that the city invaded its privacy by identifying the firm as one of the companies audited last year.

“We feel this is in retaliation for the claim that we filed against the city,� Noe said of the criminal charges. “My client will deny any wrongdoing.�

Arraignment is scheduled in Los Angeles Superior Court for Aug. 22.

If convicted on all charges, Sahab and his company each face up to $319,000 in fines, and Sahab could be sentenced to more than 150 years in jail, officials said.

“Today we are sending a loud and clear message to scofflaws in the city of Los Angeles that we are not sitting back and just watching,� Chick said. “We are acting and we are going after them.�

In November, city officials said auditors had found that up to $15 million in taxes may have been underpaid by 10 to 20 firms operating several hundred commercial parking lots.

At that time, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wrote to Delgadillo asking that he consider filing criminal charges against any firms that had failed to pay taxes.

“The investigation is open with respect to other parking lot owners,� Delgadillo said.