Judge Dismisses $2.4 Million Embezzlement Case Against Aliso Man

An Orange County Superior Court judge today dismissed charges against an Aliso Viejo man accused of a $2.4 million embezzlement and money laundering scheme involving a Santa Ana bakery.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank Fasel dismissed the charges against Mehrdad Shah Mohammad Tabrizi following two days of testimony in a preliminary hearing, said Deputy District Attorney Marc Labreche.

A key witness was unavailable for the preliminary hearing and prosecutors are considering whether to refile the case, Labreche said.

The 54-year-old Tabrizi was arrested in November in Buena Park where he was working selling used cars, Labreche said.

Tabrizi entered into an agreement in 2008 to acquire Coast to Coast Bakers Inc., a Santa Ana commercial bakery that served various stores, Labreche said.

It was a lease-to-own deal that required Tabrizi to pay $25,000 a month up to $2.4 million for the business, and another $30,000 monthly for the building and land lease, Labreche said.

Tabrizi would acquire $2.1 million in bakery equipment as part of the deal, Labreche said.

"He pretty much defaulted on everything immediately and started selling off the bakery equipment, firing employees and ending long-term contracts," Labreche said. "The owner had to sue to repossess the business."

In the meantime, Tabrizi got three investors to give him $300,000 to be part of the business, providing them with promissory notes and checks dated three months in the future for the value of their investment plus a 20 percent return, Labreche alleged.

By February 2010 when the original owner reacquired the business most of the property was sold off or damaged beyond repair, Labreche said.

The victim "is in pretty bad financial straits," Labreche said. "He thought (the sale of the bakery) was going to be his nest egg and because of this he lost that property on a short sale, declared bankruptcy and lost a couple of properties and is close to losing his home."

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- City News Service