“I’m stuck with it, and I’m stuck with the memory of who put me in this position. Every time I look at that car I think of that son of a bitch,” Hammond, 53, said of Clayton Thom, the former owner of the high-end auto dealership.

Hammond, a former Santa Clarita resident who now lives in Idaho, said in a telephone interview on Thursday, Nov. 2, that Thom assured him he was buying a solid car at the time of purchase. Hammond, however, said the car presented nothing but problems from the day he bought it.

“The very first night we got that car it almost killed us because the throttle got stuck wide open,” Hammond said.

Hammond was one of dozens alleged victims who claim to have bought super lemons instead of supercars from Thom. Dissatisfied and frustrated customers also alleged CNC Motors was floating titles and not paying them for vehicles sold on consignment, nor was the dealership squaring auto loans with banks. It prompted a DMV investigation that ultimately wound up in the hands of the California Department of Justice.

The dealership finally closed in 2021 as the DMV was investigating widespread complaints.

Criminal charges

On Wednesday, Nov. 1, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced his office had filed criminal charges against Thom, 50, and his former business manager, Valerie Tanaka, 61.

Thom is charged with 37 felony counts of grand theft and one count of elder theft for allegedly stealing more than $4 million from 35 customers from 2018 through 2021. Additionally, Thom and Tanaka are both charged with 13 felony counts of tax fraud for allegedly not remitting $4.4 million in sales taxes to the state.

The two pleaded not guilty during their arraignment Tuesday in Rancho Cucamonga Superior Court.

Thom remains in custody on $8.7 million bail at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. Tanaka was released from custody on her own recognizance following their arraignment, court records show. The two are scheduled to next appear in court on Monday, Nov. 6, for a pretrial hearing. Thom also is requesting that his bail be reduced, according to court records.

In a statement this week, Bonta said, “I am grateful to my legal team and our state agency partners for their incredible work in this case. Fraud against Californians and against the state will not be tolerated by the California Department of Justice.”

Embezzlement scheme

Authorities allege Thom, while acting in his capacity as owner of CNC Motors, encouraged his customers to place their high-value vehicles on consignment at his dealership, sometimes persuading them to surrender the titles to their vehicles.

The alleged victims signed contracts that promised payment within 20 days of the sale of their vehicles. Thom, however, would sell the cars and not pay his alleged victims, using the consigned vehicles to settle his debts and to obtain loans, according to the Justice Department.

Thom allegedly prevented customers who purchased consigned vehicles from receiving legal ownership and did not endorse, date, and deliver certificates of ownership and registration to the customers. In some cases, Thom provided his customers with forged titles, according to the Justice Department.

With Tanaka’s assistance, the Justice Department alleges, Thom collected but failed to pay about $4.4 million in sales tax to the state from 2017 to 2021.

Reached by telephone on Thursday, Tanaka declined to comment.

Court records show a deputy public defender had been appointed to represent Thom.

‘Bittersweet news’

For Thom’s alleged victims, some, including Hammond, were left with conflicting emotions upon hearing the news that Thom was in custody facing multiple felonies.

“There’s a certain sense of satisfaction as you’re telling me this, but I know I will never get any kind of repayment from that guy, which I wrote off long ago,” said Hammond, owner of a design and fabrication company that manufactures props for the film and television industry.

Dan Hurlbert, an Austin-based YouTuber and supercar aficionado who came to Hammond’s aid in 2021 and launched an online campaign against Thom and CNC Motors, said he fielded upwards of 100 complaints on his Normal Guy Supercar website from irate CNC customers who claimed to have been swindled by Thom.

“It’s unfortunate the whole situation happened. There are still tons of people out there who haven’t been made whole, and probably will never be made whole,” Hurlbert said in a phone interview on Thursday, Nov. 2.

He said he understands why it took authorities so long to charge Thom, given the complexity of the case.

“I don’t think it’s enough punishment,” said Hurlbert, who added that the ordeal prompted him to open his own dealership, NG Supercars, in 2022.

“We started our own supercar dealership to have an honest and transparent option for people. This whole thing was a motivator to do that,” Hurlbert said.

Hammond said he’s made attempts to sell the Ferrari, but because he has to disclose its rocky history, few people have shown interest. He said the sale price for the year, make and model of his vehicle ranges from $135,000 to $179,000. He paid $105,000 for it and poured in another $70,000 into repairs.

“I think the best offer I had on it was $112,000,” said Hammond, who had difficulty reconciling the news of Thom’s arrest with everything he has gone through in the past four years.

“It takes some of the burn away, but it still hurts,” he said. “It’s still coming up short for us. So it’s bittersweet news.”

Rene Gregorio Estrella, a now-banned teacher at the School of Business and Tourism at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex near downtown Los Angeles, was arrested Oct. 18 based on data collected from the cellphone of Steven Frasher, who resigned from the Redlands Planning Commission two days after his arrest Oct. 3.

Estrella also is identified as “Greg” in the affidavit, as that was the name that appeared in Frasher’s phone contacts when San Bernardino police scrubbed it for evidence, according to the affidavit obtained by the Southern California News Group.

The affidavit alleges the two men “exchanged multiple photos of adult and child pornography,” and cites a conversation they had consisting of several text messages.

“Frasher sent ‘Greg’ images of child pornography based off of what he considered attractive. ‘Greg’ sent multiple images of child pornography based off what Frasher found attractive,” the affidavit states. “The images of child pornography depicted pubescent children.”

Photos sent of students

Additionally, the affidavit alleges, Estrella would take pictures of students at Miguel Contreras as they were bending over so he could see down their shirts without their knowledge. He sent several of the photos to Frasher, and the two would discuss what the girls were wearing and how “sexy” they were.

“Estella would tell Frasher he wanted more pictures to look like the girls at school,” the affidavit states. As a result, police believe Frasher supplied Estrella with child pornography tailored to his liking.

San Bernardino police booked both men on suspicion possessing child pornography. They subsequently posted bail and were released. Neither has been criminally charged as police have not yet submitted the case to the District Attorney’s Office for review.

“It’s still under investigation and we are pursuing all avenues,” said San Bernardino police Capt. Nelson Carrington, who declined to  comment on whether other arrests are expected or if the investigation has led to educators at any other schools.

Carrington also said he could not comment on the relationship between Frasher, 62, and Estrella, 60, or how the two met.

Estrella responds

Reached by telephone, Estrella denied the allegations.

“It’s completely false — 100 percent. It’s nothing like that,” the Claremont resident said before deferring further comment to his Rancho Cucamonga attorney, Kirk Tarman. Tarman did not respond to requests for comment via email and telephone.

On the day Estrella was taken into custody, Lt. Nina Buranasombati of the Los Angeles School Police Department sent a statement to the “school community” saying “an employee” of the Business and Tourism Academy High School at Miguel Contreras had been arrested and that the district had “prohibited the employee from coming onto any of its sites.”

Officials at Los Angeles Unified would not say whether Estrella is on paid or unpaid leave.

Cyber tip led to arrest

Frasher’s arrest resulted from a cyber tip fielded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and turned over to the Los Angeles Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, of which the San Bernardino Police Department is an affiliate.

The search warrant explained that, under federal law, all electronic service providers must immediately report the online posting of child pornography to the NCMEC, which then reports the tips to law enforcement agencies for investigation.

The crimes against children task force sent the tip to the San Bernardino Police Department, including the pornographic images allegedly intercepted from Frasher’s electronic network. Police investigators subsequently obtained a search warrant for Frasher’s home in Redlands.

Child pornography allegedly was found at Frasher’s home during the Oct. 3 police search. The following day, investigators obtained a warrant to search his cellphone, where they discovered the text communication with Estrella.

Frasher history

Frasher, who unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Redlands City Council in 2015, also worked as a public information officer for the Glendale Unified School District from August 2011 to July 2012.

Glendale Unified spokesperson Kristine Nam said that as a PIO, Frasher would not have been in close contact with children. And given that he was employed with the district more than a decade ago, district officials did not feel a need to notify parents of his arrest and prior employment.

“We did not send a specific message from the district; however, the arrest has been covered extensively in the Glendale media,” Nam said.

Frasher also was a spokesman for former Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach and an assistant to the mayor for two years before that.

Frasher’s San Bernardino attorney, Mike Scafiddi, said in a telephone interview on Friday, Oct. 27, that he has yet to receive any evidence from police and therefore could not comment on the case.

“We look forward to the entire process and litigating this in the courts,” Scafiddi said.

But Scafiddi did note Frasher’s extensive career in public service.

“Steve Frasher, for his entire professional life, served the public good, including volunteer work with the city of Redlands, on the city planning commission, and as a public information officer providing information to the public that only did the public good,” Scafiddi said.

More than a half-dozen lawsuits have been filed in U.S. District Court in Riverside this year on behalf of inmates who died in Riverside County’s jail system, including three filed since Oct. 11 on behalf of the family members of deceased inmates Mark Spratt, Ulysses Munoz Ayala and Justin Kail, all of whom were housed at the Southwest Detention Center in French Valley, near Murrieta.

Another notable suit was filed Aug. 25 by the parents of Kaushal Niroula, a 41-year-old transgender woman who was beaten and strangled in her cell on Sept. 6, 2022. The suit claims it took correctional officers more than an hour to realize Niroula’s cellmate, convicted sex offender Ronald Sanchez, had attacked Niroula in their cell.

Most recent lawsuits

Spratt, 24, of Fontana was killed Jan. 12 after his cellmate, Micky Rodney Payne, allegedly brutally beat him and threw him over a second-story railing to the floor below in what was described as a racially motivated attack. Spratt later died at a hospital, according to the federal suit filed Oct. 12.

The day before Spratt was killed, the lawsuit alleges, Payne had complained during a telephone call that he was housed with a White inmate. Payne, 34, has been charged with murder and one misdemeanor count of battery on a peace officer in connection with the incident.

On Sept. 29, 2022, Ulysses Munoz Ayala, 39, of Corona allegedly was killed by inmate Erik Martinez, 30, during an altercation. Martinez, who was in jail facing murder and carjacking charges, was subsequently charged with murder in connection with Ayala’s death.

Ayala’s daughter filed the lawsuit Oct. 10, blaming a lack of security and supervision at the jail for the death of her father, who was awaiting sentencing for convictions on assault with a deadly weapon charges in two separate cases.

Another lawsuit filed on Oct. 11 alleges inmate Justin Kail, 31, of Winchester died of a fentanyl overdose at the jail on May 17, 2022. His mother, Sharon Kidd, alleges in the lawsuit that the Sheriff’s Department and correctional officers should have known that inmates were consuming narcotics, including fentanyl, “at an alarming rate which would cause death.”

Confession in Niroula’s killing

Sanchez was seen on surveillance video “high fiving” and shaking hands with other inmates after Niroula’s death, and he quickly confessed to killing her.

“He is dead. I killed him. There is nothing else to say,” Sanchez told a jail deputy after the killing, according to the lawsuit and a coroner’s investigation report.

Sanchez pleaded guilty to murdering Niroula during his arraignment on Sept. 19, 2022, and was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison.

Niroula had been facing a second trial for murder in connection with the 2008 stabbing death of wealthy Palm Springs art dealer Clifford Lambert in 2008. Niroula was HIV positive and identifying as a female at the time of her death.

In fact, Niroula’s transition was so far along that she had developed breasts, according to the lawsuit. A coroner’s investigation report also noted that Niroula’s medical records indicated proof of clinical treatment for gender transition to female.

The lawsuit noted that Niroula had been assisting state and federal authorities in uncovering illegal wiretapping at the county jails and was “mysteriously killed” three days before her trial.

Niroula had filed a civil rights complaint in federal court in May 2012 alleging a sheriff’s deputy illegally intercepted privileged calls between her and her attorney and distributed them to Daniel Carlos Garcia, another defendant in the Lambert murder case. Garcia acknowledged he had received the recorded telephone conversations and listened to all of them, court records show.

“I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that she was killed in such a violent and tragic manner three days before she was set to go to trial,” said Denisse Gastelum, the attorney representing Niroula’s parents in the lawsuit.

Niroula was convicted in 2012 of first-degree murder in connection with Lambert’s killing and sentenced to life in prison, but her conviction was overturned in 2018 due to judicial bias and homophobic comments made by the judge who presided over the trial.

Cellmate pairings blamed

Attorneys representing family members of Niroula and Spratt also allege that sheriff’s correctional officers did not properly classify the inmates they were paired up with as cellmates, which cost Niroula and Spratt their lives.

Spratt was in custody for an identify theft offense, but was housed with Payne, who had been charged with a laundry list of violent offenses for domestic violence, assaulting a peace officer and attempting to take the officer’s gun, the family’s lawsuit states. Niroula was housed with a violent male sex offender even though she was identifying as a female at the time of her death, according to his  parents’ lawsuit.

DOJ investigation

For the past two years, the American Civil Liberties Union as well as activist and community groups have alleged excessive force by sheriff’s deputies and “inhuman conditions” at Riverside County jails.

In 2021, the ACLU and more than 30 groups sent a letter to Attorney General Rob Bonta demanding that his office investigate.

When 18 inmates died in Riverside County jails in 2022 — the highest number of inmate deaths since 2005 — the ACLU also demanded that the Board of State and Community Corrections step in to provide “immediate and necessary oversight” of the jail system.

In its Feb. 7 letter to the BSSC, the ACLU alleged the Riverside Sheriff’s Department “has a long track record of rampant abuse and inhumane conditions inside their jail facilities.”

Two weeks after the ACLU sent its letter to the BSCC, Bonta announced his office was launching an investigation.

Justice Department officials confirmed this week that its “pattern or practice investigation into the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office” remains active and ongoing, but declined to comment further.

Sheriff responds 

Sheriff Chad Bianco staunchly defends his department and the actions of his deputies and correctional officers. While he acknowledged that more inmates died in Riverside County jails than usual in 2022, he said the department’s average number of annual deaths is nine — in line with the average experienced by most county jails.

He called the sharp criticisms and calls for investigations into his department nothing more than a “political publicity stunt of the far left.”

“It’s all a huge, disgusting political game,” Bianco said in a telephone interview.

In 2022, Bianco said, the death rate among the general population in California was 684 per 100,000 people. In comparison, the death rate in Riverside County jails was 30 per 100,000 inmates

“You are 20 times more likely to die in public, outside of jail, than you are in a Riverside County jail,” Bianco said. “And the medical care the inmates get is far better than the care you and I get, and it’s much more readily available.”

He said his agency is highly controlled and monitored by the state, the civil grand jury and the state Auditor’s Office, which reviewed San Diego County’s jail system and said it would be better served by modeling some of its practices after Riverside County’s.

Bianco believes the Justice Department investigation may have something to do with an interview he did with the Epoch Times, in which he sharply criticized the failures of Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom on public safety issues. A video of the interview went viral on social media about a week before Bonta publicly announced his investigation.

“I will not back down on the failures of the governor and the attorney general in our current public safety system,” Bianco said.

Bianco said three of the inmate deaths in 2022 were suicides, but he noted that jail deputies and nurses saved 96 other inmates who had attempted suicide. Additionally, he said there were six overdose deaths in 2022, but 110 other inmates who had overdosed were revived and survived.

“We saved 206 people,” Bianco said. “This is a total false narrative and utter lie by the ACLU.”

As to the classification and screening of inmates, Bianco said all inmates undergo a “painstaking” screening process to determine where in the jail they should be housed and who they are housed with. All variables, he said, are taken into account — their charges, criminal histories, ages, health and the like.

And if any inmate has a problem with a cellmate, he or she is moved, no questions asked, Bianco said.

Contrary to the lawsuit describing Spratt as a nonviolent offender, Bianco said he had a history of violent offenses even though he was not in custody on a violent offense at the time of his death. He said Spratt and Payne were housed together in the same cell for three months with no issues.

Attorneys for Spratt did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

As for Niroula, Bianco said the only information he was privy to was that Niroula was seeking sex reassignment surgery at the time of her death and wanted the county or state to pay for it.

“The bottom line with homicides, if somebody is going to kill someone in jail, and they choose to follow through with a murder, that person is responsible, not the deputies or the Sheriff’s Office,” Bianco said.

According to a default notice dated Sept. 11, 1675 Industrial Park, LP, the ownership entity of the former Good Nite Inn at 1675 Industrial Park Ave., owes Arixa Institutional Lending Partners more than $332,000. And that debt will continue to increase until paid in full.

“If your property is in foreclosure because you are behind in your payments, it may be sold without any court action,” read the notice, which noted that the owner also must pay insurance, taxes and other costs associated with the property.

Shangri-La connection

1675 Industrial Park, LP is housed in the offices of the Los Angeles-based Shangri-La Construction, whose parent company, Shangri-La Industries, received $30 million in Project Roomkey funding in 2022 for the motel conversion project.

The state funds were to cover the purchase of the property, upgrades and ongoing operations and services to the homeless, which are being provided by the nonprofit homeless advocacy organization Step Up in Redlands. The motel, which houses about 100 people, opened to homeless residents in January.

Under the city’s contract with Shangri-La and Step Up, the city is paying Shangri-La $3.5 million over seven years — $515,000 a year — to provide housing to the homeless at the renovated motel.

Asked if the default situation has raised any concerns with the city, Redlands spokesman Carl Baker would only say that city staff are in regular contact with Shangri-La. “We understand that Shangri-La has been working with the lender to refinance the loan and address all outstanding issues,” he said.

Shangri-La has 90 days from the date of the notice to clear its debt to Arixa before the lender can put the property up for sale.

Cody Holmes, chief financial officer for Shangri-La Industries, said in a telephone interview Friday, Oct. 13, that he expects the issue to be resolved within the next few days.

“We’re actively working with Arixa right now to get that cleaned up, and we’re in the process of refinancing the property, which would remove them (Arixa) as the lien holder,” Holmes said.

First default

In May, 1675 Industrial Park LP fell into default for failing to pay Arixa nearly $277,000. However, after Shangri-La was contacted by the Southern California News Group about the default notice, the company quickly moved to resolve the issue.

Later that day, Shangri-La and Arixa issued a joint statement stating the borrower was “current and all disputes between borrower and Arixa” were resolved.

Project delays

Established in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state’s Project Roomkey program provides funds to cities and counties to provide shelter to the homeless, including the conversion of hotels and motels into transitional housing facilities.

Since then, Shangri-La Industries and the Santa Monica-based Step Up have partnered to convert motels in cities across the state — in San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Ventura and Monterey counties — into transitional housing under the state program.

But since the partnership commenced and Shangri-La began securing state funding for the projects, many of them have been delayed by lengthy environmental reviews and permitting processes, Holmes said.

That, combined with disputes Shangri-La Industries has had with its contractor, Ontario-based Northstar Development and Construction, and Arixa, its lender, there has been a delay in payment to Northstar’s subcontractors, forcing them to file mechanics liens at county recorder offices.

In San Bernardino County alone, more than a dozen contractors, subcontratcors and material suppliers on the Redlands project filed liens totaling $2 million from March 7 through May 3. At least three lawsuits were subsequently filed in San Bernardino Superior Court alleging breach of contract.

Another motel conversion project by the Shangri-La/Step Up partnership, at the Ramada Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, also has been plagued by delays, reportedly due to unexpected structural deficiencies, financing issues and a conflict with a contractor.

Tod Lipka, president and CEO of Step Up, told Asheville city councilmembers that creating such housing is typically a five-year process.

Lipka did not respond to telephone calls seeking comment.

Lawsuits

On July 12, Riverside-based Safeway Electric filed a lawsuit in San Bernardino Superior Court against 1675 Industrial Park LP. and Northstar alleging breach of contract for failing to pay them.

PDG Wallcoverings in Mission Viejo filed a lawsuit June 29 claiming it was owed more than $178,000. The lawsuit requested that the amount owed be ordered as a lien against the property, and that the property be ordered sold by the San Bernardino County sheriff.

Carpet USA sued Shangri-La Construction, LP. and 1675 Industrial Park LP on June 15, also due to lack of payment.

In each case, neither the plaintiffs nor their attorneys would comment.

At least two lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles County, and at least one company in Monterey County is poised to sue as well.

Making subcontractors whole

Holmes said the lawsuits were standard procedure to ensure the demands made in the mechanics liens remain valid and current.

He said Shangri-La has resolved its dispute with Northstar and has since been working with its contractor on negotiating settlement agreements with all the subcontractors. “Our legal team is working directly with them,” Holmes said.

In May, Shangri-La and Northstar issued a joint statement saying Step Up in Redlands has “provided 122 people with a permanent and affordable home in record time.”

Matthew Serafin, who has resisted calls to step down from the Board of Education, was charged Thursday, Oct. 12, with three misdemeanor counts for driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, unlawfully driving a vehicle with a blood alcohol level of 0.08% or more, and for being involved in a vehicle accident and failing to immediately stop and provide his name and address, according to the criminal complaint from the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

Riverside County sheriff’s deputies arrested Serafin about 4:50 p.m. Aug. 27 after he crashed into a parked car on Redding Way, near A Street, in Perris. No injuries were reported, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Serafin, 31, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday at the Hall of Justice in Riverside, said Brooke Beare, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office.

Serafin did not respond to email requests for comment on Friday.

Prior convictions

Serafin’s previous arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol, with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher, occurred in August 2018, Riverside County court records show.

A year later, Serafin pleaded guilty to the offense and was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to complete a first-offender, three-month DUI program. His probation expired in August 2022, according to Riverside County Superior Court records that have since been sealed.

In 2015 — about a year before he was elected to the school board at the age of 25 — Serafin, who went by the surname Guevara at the time, was charged with two felonies in a case stemming from a pair of vehicle burglaries. Under a plea bargain, however, he pleaded guilty in Orange County Superior Court to one misdemeanor count of vandalism, with less than $400 in damage, court records show.

Declining support on board

School board member Melinda Young called for Serafin to step down at the board’s Sept. 5 meeting due to his history of using foul language at public meetings. Parents also had repeatedly complained about Serafin’s course language and unprofessional behavior behind the dais and demanded he resign.

Young put it before the board for a vote, but the proposal failed on a 2-2 vote, with Young and Marla Kirkland voting yes and board member Daniel Aquino joining Serafin in voting no. Board member Erika Zamora, a Serafin supporter, was absent.

Young said she was unaware of Serafin’s August DUI arrest at the Sept. 5 meeting. Otherwise, she said, she would have said something about it.

During the board’s Oct. 3 meeting, the first since Serafin’s arrest became public, Zamora said she had given Serafin a second chance, but that it was time for him to step down.

“This DUI that happened, we should have been informed of it, because even though it’s a personal matter, it affects us as a community,” she said.

Aquino said he agreed, noting that Serafin’s actions do not reflect the values of Val Verde Unified, which serves Perris and Moreno Valley.

Extremist views

Serafin also has come under fire for far-left views. In 2015, Serafin, then a student at UC Irvine, successfully led a campaign to have the university stop flying the American flag, and flags of all other nations, in the lobby area of student council offices, claiming they were offensive to some. The student council’s executive cabinet, however, subsequently reversed the ban.

In an interview with Fox News at the time, Serafin called the United States the largest force for evil in the world.

Serafin’s response

Serafin has made no suggestion he will resign from board. In his first public address following his arrest, he said during the Oct. 3 board meeting his arrest was a “personal matter” and he would not be commenting on it. He said his family had been going through hard times with the recent deaths of both his great-grandmother and grandfather.

“I am not a saint,” Serafin said during the meeting. “I take responsibility and I pray daily to the creator, to my ancestors, to the sun and to the moon. I strive to be a better person and will be a better person.”

Val Verde Superintendent Superintendent Michael R. McCormick and Daniel Whitfield, the district’s director of risk management, did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

In the first meeting of the Board of Education since the Southern California News Group reported on Matthew Serafin’s criminal history, including his second DUI arrest on Aug. 27, two board members who formerly supported Serafin changed their positions Tuesday, Oct. 3.

Erika Zamora said she gave Serafin a second chance, but now believes it is time for him to step down.

“This DUI that happened, we should have been informed of it, because even though it’s a personal matter, it affects us as a community,” Zamora said.

Board member Daniel Aquino, who voted to keep Serafin on as board president following complaints of his continual use of profanity behind the dais, said two of his friends died as a result of drunken driving. He said he was offended that some are accusing him of condoning Serafin’s actions.

“I completely agree that Mr. Serafin should step down. I do not believe his actions reflect that of Val Verde,” Aquino said.

Parents speak out

Nearly a dozen parents and community watchdogs spoke out against Serafin and the district’s failure to properly address the issue at Tuesday’s meeting. Some saw it as an opportunity to get more involved.

Dolores Holmes, surrounded by a throng of about a dozen family members and supporters waving signs reading “4 the Kids,” “Think about the kids” and “Holmes for school board,” said she plans to run for a seat on the board in the 2024 election.

“I came here today to let you know that all the decisions made by you affect my children, the children of our community and my family,” Holmes said. She called Serafin’s conduct, as both a school board member and in his personal life, questionable.

“Yes, we all make mistakes and deserve a second chance, however, not the same mistakes over and over again,” Holmes said. “I’m a believer that our words and our actions encourage or discourage people. Do you really think you are encouraging positive attributes to our students as our president?”

Board member Melinda Young, who proposed stripping Serafin of his ceremonial position as president during the board’s Sept. 5 meeting due to his public use of profanity, called Serafin’s behavior “disgusting” on Tuesday.

“I hope my colleagues have heard the community as I have and are moved to make positive change and to remedy the situation,” Young said. She said had she been aware of Serafin’s August DUI arrest at the Sept. 5 meeting, she would have mentioned it.

Board member Marla Kirkland did not speak on the issue during Tuesday night’s meeting, but said in a prior statement that Serafin’s conduct was “embarrassing to our district” and implored Serafin to resign immediately.

The Val Verde Unified School District covers 22 schools comprising more than 19,000 students in Perris and Moreno Valley.

Second DUI arrest

Serafin, 31, whose full name is Matthew Pierre Guevara Serafin, was arrested about 4:50 p.m. on Aug. 27 on suspicion of DUI after he allegedly struck a parked car on Redding Way near A Street. He was booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, issued a citation and released the following day, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Criminal charges have not been filed against Serafin as the Sheriff’s Department continues to investigate.

Serafin’s arrest came a little more than a year after he completed probation on another DUI offense from 2018, court records show. And in November 2015, Serafin, who went by the surname Guevara at the time, was convicted in Orange County of misdemeanor vandalism in connection with two vehicle burglaries, court records show.

Following his 2015 conviction, he filed a petition in Riverside Superior Court to change his surname from Guevara to Serafin, his mother’s maiden name. A judge granted the request

Serafin responds

In his first public address since his arrest, Serafin on Tuesday never addressed whether he would contemplate stepping down. He said the last several months have been a difficult time for him and his family as they dealt with the loss of both his great-grandmother and grandfather.

Responding to questions about why he changed his surname before he ran for office, Serafin said he added his mother’s maiden name in her honor.

“I wanted to carry the name of the person who has solely raised me since I was 13,” he said. “My father was many things — a good man, a good father, but also an abuser and an alcoholic. I honor both of my family names, so adding my mother’s name was a part of completing something I always wanted to do since completing childhood, and was finally able to get around to when I graduated college.”

He implored those at the meeting not to believe any of the “social media nonsense” that surfaced following his arrest, and gave his assurances that his legal problems will not affect his ability to serve on the school board.

“I am not a saint,” Serafin said. “I take responsibility and I pray daily to the creator, to my ancestors, to the sun and to the moon. I strive to be a better person and will be a better person.”

Superintendent silent

Some district parents called out Superintendent Michael R. McCormick on Tuesday for not responding to the public outcry against Serafin’s conduct.

“Superintendent Michael, I’d like to know why you haven’t commented on this whole issue with the president using profane language. I’m surprised that nobody has spoke about it. Your executive staff hasn’t spoke about it,” said Fred Banuelos of Moreno Valley.

Roy Bleckert, who hosts an afternoon radio program called IE Newswire Daily, also called out McCormick, saying he asked him and his assistant superintendents to weigh in on the Serafin controversy during the Sept. 5 board meeting. But instead they remained silent.

“Your job as superintendent is to give your opinion. This is what the problem is,” Bleckert said. “It’s incumbent upon every one of you to do what’s right.”

In response, McCormick also spoke for the first time publicly on the matter, but chose to focus on the positive things occurring in the district and with its students.

“I’ve been in this district for a very long time and it hurts my heart and it hurts my spirit to be in this place where we are right now,” he said, “because I know that this good work that happens in Val Verde doesn’t happen because of a single individual. It happens because of a team that includes people at all levels of this organization.”

Naseem Farooqi, the district’s former director of government and legislative affairs, filed the lawsuit Tuesday, Sept. 27, in San Bernardino Superior Court, naming as defendants water district board President Greg Young, board member Channing Hawkins and former human resources director Deborah Martinez, among others.

Farooqi alleges that while employed at the district from December 2018 through August 2022, he was retaliated against and ultimately fired for “blowing the whistle” on “blatant waste and mismanagement of public resources; the awarding of lucrative government contracts to personal friends of board members,” as well as retaliation and bullying.

The lawsuit claims the district believed Farooqi was paid too much and eliminated his position because it wanted to cut costs.

According to the government and public pay website Transparent California, Farooqi was earning more than $202,000 in 2021 as the district’s director of government and legislative affairs. Following his termination, the district changed the job title of Farooqi’s former position from director to manager.

His successor, Socorro Pantaleon, makes $126,227.

Death threats

Farooqi’s most serious complaints were directed at Young for allegedly making a death threat against him at a San Bernardino County Republican Central Committee event in Mentone and trying to get him fired following the incident.

In July 2019, when Farooqi was serving as the district’s public affairs manager, he issued a news release at the direction of his supervisor, Jeremiah Brosowske, saying that Young and board colleague Clifford Young Jr., who is no relation, voted against a state controller audit of the district.

The audit slammed the district for entering into millions of dollars in no-bid contracts, improper hiring practices and excessive spending on travel, lodging and meals by board members.

Although an administrative investigation conducted by an outside law firm concluded Farooqi’s complaint was substantiated by a witness, the district failed to take any disciplinary action against Young, according to the lawsuit.

Young, according to the lawsuit, pushed former interim General Manager Shamindra “Rickey” Manbahal to fire Farooqi in exchange for Young’s support of Manbahal for the permanent position of general manager. Manbahal, however, rebuffed Young’s offer and filed his own complaint with human resources.

Manbahal subsequently resigned from the water district, which serves 82,000 customers in the communities of Bloomington, Colton, Fontana, Rialto and parts of unincorporated areas in San Bernardino as well as Jurupa Valley in Riverside County.

In a statement, Young said: “I have dedicated almost a decade of my life to serving my community through public service. Sadly to be a decent and honest person in politics it often makes you a target of people who seek power and money over what is best for the community.”

PR contract

In December 2019, according to the lawsuit, newly elected board President Channing Hawkins called Farooqi and told him he wanted to get his friend, publicist Charles Chamberlayne of ChamberlaynePR, a contract with the district to “help him out.”

To avoid any negative appearance of awarding his friend a contract, Hawkins, according to the lawsuit, ordered Farooqi to make the proposal to the board as if it were his own, or else he would be fired.

When he received a draft of the proposal, the lawsuit alleges, Hawkins directed Farooqi to make revisions that would instill a sense of urgency for the hiring.

Four months later, the board approved ChamberlaynePR’s contract for $150,000 — 66% more than the $90,000 contract Chamberlayne bid on.

Pantaleon, the district’s spokesperson, said the district no longer contracts with ChamberlaynePR. Its last contract was approved on May 7, 2020, and a 90-day extension was approved on May 4, 2023. It expired on Aug. 4, she said. District records show its most recent payment to ChamberlaynePR was for $7,500 in July 2023.

Chamberlayne’s contract was not the only one Hawkins came under fire for in 2020. Hawkins also successfully pushed for an employment contract with a law firm where a friend, fellow Howard University alumnus Rodney Diggs, works. The firm, Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt, still contracts with the district for legal services.

In response to the scrutiny, Hawkins, during a February 2020 board meeting, said the issue was not about cronyism, but about race.

“I find it offensive and hard to digest that anyone would suggest that a reputable, minority-owned enterprise did not earn this work based on their own expertise and body of work,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins, now an attorney working in San Bernardino, did not respond to a request for comment.

“We are hopeful that a jury will find that Hawkins’ conduct was consistent with a pattern and practice of both unethical and illegal behavior,” Farooqi’s attorney, Anthony Nguyen, said in an email. “We are confident that this case will vindicate Mr. Farooqi’s rights in speaking up against what he believed was wrongful and illegal conduct, and hope that it may set an example for other whistleblowers to follow.”

Pantaleon said in an email that the district has yet to be served with the lawsuit and, therefore, she could not comment on it.

District exposed

A yearlong investigation by the Southern California News Group that began in 2019 uncovered myriad problems within the district, including the employment of consultants without contracts and the hiring of managers and consultants with dubious backgrounds and legal difficulties. The findings were later confirmed by the state controller’s audit.

Additionally, a federal investigation into corruption in Baldwin Park revealed that its former police chief, Mike Taylor, conspired with former Councilman Ricardo Pacheco to have Pacheco help Taylor secure a seat on the water district’s board of directors in exchange for Taylor getting Pacheco an executive-level job at the district at a salary of more than $189,000.

Another West Valley official with links to Baldwin Park, Robert Tafoya, resigned as general counsel of the water district in November 2022, nearly a month after he resigned as Baldwin Park’s city attorney amid the federal corruption probe into a bribery scheme surrounding cannabis businesses.

In March 2020, West Valley officials announced they would undertake sweeping reforms to address what Hawkins described as concerning and irresponsible financial practices uncovered in the state audit.

Hernandez, a resident of Chino, resigned Aug. 10 after three years as CEO, amid allegations he was having an inappropriate relationship. But in a news release issued by the county at the time, Hernandez was quoted as saying his departure was due to “an urgent family health issue that requires my immediate and undivided attention.”

According to the nine-page separation agreement obtained by the Southern California News Group, Hernandez will remain on the county payroll through Nov. 22, 2024, or until his accrued vacation, holiday, and administrative leave time is exhausted, whichever comes first. Until he officially departs, Hernandez will continue to accrue additional leave time and receive one across-the-board 3% wage increase on Feb. 24, 2024, which will increase the size of his eventual pension.

Eyebrow-raising raise

Todd Maddison, director of research for the government accountability website Transparent California, said in an email Friday that public separation agreements — like any public benefit — typically are more generous than what is offered in the private sector.

But allowing Hernandez to receive a 3% raise in February raised his eyebrows.

“How wacko is that?” Maddison said. “In private industry, I think the standard was usually that such raises only applied to active employees, meaning you had to be working, on vacation, or taking some form of temporary leave to apply.”

County spokesman David Wert said the agreement was in accordance with the county’s regular payroll practices that apply to any departing employee.

The agreement, however, notes that Hernandez’s benefits exceed what he was otherwise entitled to receive on separation from employment, and that the benefits were provided as “consideration in exchange for executing this agreement.”

Retirement pay

Additionally, the county will continue to make contributions to the San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Association on Hernandez’s behalf for as long as he remains on the county payroll. Once Hernandez concludes his employment, the county will contribute 80% of the cash value of Hernandez’s accrued sick time, not to exceed 1,500 hours, to his retirement medical trust fund.

Hernandez, who was earning a base salary of $391,768 at the time of his resignation, also will continue to receive annual medical, dental and life insurance benefits from the county totaling nearly $221,000.

County officials said Hernandez has 741.5 hours of accrued vacation time, 212 hours of accrued holiday time, and 144 hours of accrued administrative leave he has to use within the next 14 months. Meanwhile, he will continue accruing, on a biweekly basis, 7.3 hours of sick time, 12.3 hours of vacation time, and from now through 2024 upwards of 288 hours of holiday time and 160 hours of administrative leave in 2024.

Wert noted that the agreement makes it clear that if Hernandez accepts employment elsewhere before his leave time is exhausted, his remaining leave will be cashed out and he will no longer accrue additional leave time, pension time, or receive the across-the board-pay increase, nor will he continue to receive employer-paid benefits from the county.

Additional terms

Hernandez has agreed not to seek employment, reinstatement or re-employment with the county ever again, and the county will not contest unemployment benefits should Hernandez apply for them, according to the agreement.

The agreement also absolves the county from any and all claims of wrongdoing or liability to Hernandez, and Hernandez has agreed not to make any public or private statements, comments or communications disparaging the county or that reveal confidential or other communications with the Board of Supervisors or county management and staff.

Additionally, the agreement calls for Hernandez to make himself available to cooperate with the county in connection with any legal matters that may arise

County protected

Mary Jane Olhasso, the county’s former assistant executive officer and a CPA who retired in 2019, said the agreement, by all appearances, serves a two-fold purpose: to allow Hernandez more paid time with the county in order to increase his retirement package, and to insulate the county from liability.

“This agreement looks to me well-written and protects the county,” Olhasso said in a telephone interview. “They agreed to leave him on the payroll so he could accumulate more quarters for the retirement system, and it protected the county pretty well.”

Rise to power

Hernandez was appointed CEO in September 2020. Prior to that he served as the county’s chief operating officer, deputy executive officer, interim museum director, county librarian and head of the Fontana library system. During a stopover in Riverside County, Hernandez served as the city of Riverside’s director of libraries. His contract as CEO was extended through 2028 in April 2022.

Even before Hernandez ascended to power as the county’s top administrator, many of his fellow department heads and administrators grew wary of his management style, resulting in an exodus of dozens of administrators and executive staff in the past three years, according to some of those former employees who asked to not be identified.

Among those departing was Olhasso, who said she retired in 2019 over Hernandez’s management style.

“I would have stayed longer had it not been for the contention generated by this individual,” she said.

Jurors awarded 80-year-old Suzanne Yorgason $939,669 in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages after finding Ken Allen Lamphear committed elder abuse, fraud and fraud in the inducement. Additionally, the jury found that Lamphear acted with malice, oppression or fraud at the conclusion of the 10-day trial at the Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse in Long Beach.

“We are extremely gratified by the jury’s verdict and punitive award,” Yorgason’s Aliso Viejo attorney, William D. Chapman, said in a statement. “A sophisticated real estate investor, Ken Lamphear, knew exactly what he was doing when he persuaded Ms. Yorgason to transfer her home to him without any documentation — no promissory note, no deed, no escrow and no payment of any kind.”

Yorgason lived at her home in the Alamitos Beach neighborhood of Long Beach for 48 years before her health started deteriorating in the last two years. Chapman said she suffered a stroke and was hospitalized for a time before winding up in the nursing home.

Owing only $43,000 on a home valued at $800,000, Yorgason fell behind on her mortgage due to her medical situation. She received a notice of default from her bank in January 2022 informing her if she didn’t bring her account current within a month it would begin the foreclosure process, Chapman said.

A handyman renting Yorgason’s garage put her in touch with Lamphear, who was his boss and who, according to Chapman, owned 31 residential income properties across Southern California and had a net worth of more than $33 million. Yorgason thought Lamphear might be able to help her and asked if he could loan her the money to cover her mortgage debt.

Lamphear, 70, of Long Beach, said he couldn’t loan her any money, but instead offered to buy her house. Yorgason agreed, but on one condition: that Lamphear would allow Yorgason’s developmentally disabled sister to continue living at the house for the remainder of her life. Lamphear, according to Chapman, agreed, but the deal was never put into writing.

Yorgason, while confined to the nursing home, was subsequently visited by a notary public on Lamphear’s behalf. Without her glasses and not really knowing what she was signing, Yorgason, believing Lamphear was acting in good faith, signed a grant deed to her property, essentially relinquishing her home to him, Chapman said.

Lamphear did not provide her any promissory note or trust deed to sign to be filed at the recorder’s office that would provide safeguards for Yorgason, Chapman said.

Then, Lamphear informed Yorgason’s sister he now owned the property and that he would be evicting her. She frantically tracked down a cousin in Huntington Beach who, after hearing the story, contacted Chapman, who took the case and filed the lawsuit.

The trial now enters the judgment phase. Chapman said he plans to file a motion Friday, Sept. 8, demanding that Lamphear pay Yorgason’s attorney’s fees and court costs, which he said amount to roughly $500,000. He also will request that Jorgason’s home be put back in her name.

Lamphear’s attorney, Devin Murtaugh, said in an email that while the jury’s findings must be respected, the decision profoundly misunderstands the facts and is a “tragedy for all involved.”

“After a series of post-trial procedural steps, there will likely be an appeal,” he said, adding that after judgment is entered, he will ask the court to either reduce the damages or hold a new trial before any appeal.

“It is, for better or worse, a long and complex process,” Murtaugh said.

Under a separation agreement signed in January, Andrea Smith will be allowed to continue her employment as a full-time faculty member until August 2024, when she will become eligible to receive full retirement benefits and the honorary title of emeritus.

However, Smith, a tenured professor employed at UC Riverside since 2008, has agreed that the university will not list her emeritus status on its website directories.

Smith’s resignation staves off an administrative investigation and potentially substantial legal costs to the university. John Warren, a spokesperson for UC Riverside, said in an email Wednesday that the negotiated separation agreement brings a timely conclusion to Smith’s continued employment with the university.

“Investigations of a tenured faculty member for alleged misconduct have potential for litigation and appeals, and can unfold over the course of years,” Warren said.

‘Pretendians’

Jacqueline Keeler, a freelance journalist, author, Navajo Nation citizen and a descendant of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, said the world of academia has become a breeding ground for “pretendians,” those who falsely claim indigenous identity for professional, political, and monetary gain.

“Academia has become a pretendian factory,” Keeler said in a telephone interview Wednesday, Aug. 30.

She believes universities, standing behind federal civil rights and discrimination laws, have essentially given their faculty carte blanche to perpetuate false claims of ancestral ties to indigenous people or other races. Such was the case at UC Riverside, she said.

“I think the university’s claim they were fearful of a lawsuit is ridiculous,” Keeler said. “(Smith’s) retirement will cost more than a lawsuit, and there’s no basis for one because there’s no proof she’s Native (American).”

Faculty complaint

Smith’s resignation was prompted by a complaint to the university received last August from 13 faculty members. They accused Smith of making fraudulent claims to Native American identity in violation of the Faculty Code of Conduct, according to the separation agreement.

Smith, according to the agreement, denied and disputed the allegations contained in the complaint. The university subsequently engaged in discussions with her to resolve the matter, and Smith agreed to resign.

The university has agreed to compensate Smith up to $5,000 for attorney fees she incurred in resolving the complaint, according to the agreement.

‘Will always be Cherokee’

Smith, who is not registered as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, did not respond to email and telephone messages seeking comment.

But in 2015, amid ongoing media controversy surrounding her questionable ties to the Cherokee Nation, Smith released a statement on her blog saying, “I have always been, and will always be Cherokee.”

“I have consistently identified myself based on what I knew to be true,” Smith said in her 2015 blog post. She said there had been “innumerable false statements” made about her in the media.

“It is my hope that more Indigenous peoples will answer the call to work for social justice without fear of being subjected to violent identity-policing,” Smith said.

15-year history

Controversy surrounding Smith’s Cherokee heritage reportedly began after she was denied tenure at the University of Michigan in 2008. She subsequently moved on and took the job at UC Riverside that same year.

The question surrounding Smith’s alleged ancestral ties to the Cherokee Nation generated interest from a multitude of Native American scholars and activists, who dove deep into her background.

Some were even commissioned by Smith herself to research her genealogy.

David Cornsilk, a retired genealogist, citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, said Smith hired him in the 1990s to research her genealogy on both her mother’s and father’s side. He said he found no trace of Cherokee ancestry in Smith’s bloodline.

Smith’s questionable Cherokee heritage has also been widely reported in the mainstream media, particularly in the New York Times, including an expose in New York Times Magazine in May 2021.

Four months after the magazine expose was published, UC Riverside posted a statement on its website on “indigenous identity affiliation,” insisting “upon transparency and integrity in matters of Indigenous affiliation and identity” by all faculty.

Warren could not comment on why the university did not act sooner.

“Allegations of misconduct by a faculty member are a personnel matter and protected by privacy laws, and, with few exceptions, are not disclosed,” Warren said in his email Wednesday.

Keeler, the author and Navajo Nation citizen, said Smith is among several figures in academia who’ve made headlines in recent years over false identity claims. Others include Jessica Krug and Elizabeth Hoover.

Krug, a white Jewish woman from the Midwest and an associate professor at George Washington University, resigned in 2020 after she was outed and admitted to inventing several Black identities, including being of North African and Caribbean descent.

Hoover, an associate professor at UC Berkeley, issued an apology in May, admitting she was a White person who incorrectly claimed to be Native American her whole life.

Assemblymember James Ramos, a member of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, called the “pretender” problem a “serious issue” that especially needs to be better addressed in university systems.

“The bigger question is, when someone claims Native American ancestry — when you start to see people using that to further themselves — there should be the question of who is and who isn’t (Native American), and who decides who is and who isn’t,” Ramos said.