over special attention he gave to an Iranian-American businessman who has contributed muificently to Baca in gifts and political donations.
Criticism of the LA sheriff began when it was found that he had ordered his detectives to launch a criminal investigation outside his agency’s jurisdiction on behalf of Iranian-American real estate developer Ezat Delijani.
The investigation launched by the sheriff in 2008 began when Delijani and one of his tenants disagreed on a rental matter. According to the Los Angeles Times, Delijani’s tenant, a pharmacist named Afshin Nassir, asked Delijani to reimburse him for improvements he made to the property and for rent he had paid while those improvements were being made.
According to Nassir, the lease he signed with Delijani entitled him to payment for these improvements. But Delijani denied that, claiming that Nassir had produced a forged lease. When the Iranian-born landlord refused to reimburse Nassir, both parties sued.
In court, Delijani said he told Baca about the dispute between him and Nassir during a meeting at which the Iranian immigrant was receiving an award. Delijani said Baca told him to report the crime, but the area where the dispute took place was not within Baca’s jurisdiction but instead under the jurisdiction of the Beverly Hills Police.
The Delijani family went to the Beverly Hills Police with the tenant complaint, but law enforcement officials there concluded the matter did not merit a criminal investigation.
A subsequent email from Delijani’s son, Shahram, to Baca’s assistant read: “Hi Susie, Hope you’re well. Can you please let the Sheriff know that I spoke to … Beverly Hills Police Department and they informed me that they will not investigate the case. Thank you.”
But the story didn’t end there. Baca reportedly printed out a copy of the email and showed it to Willie Miller, who at the time oversaw the Sheriff Department’s detectives division.
On the email printout addressed to Miller, Baca reportedly wrote: “Chief Miller—This case involves a ‘lease forgery.’ Could you have our people investigate this.”
It only took a few days before officials from the department’s commercial crimes bureau took on the case, which had already been deemed unworthy of a criminal investigation by the Beverly Hills Police Department.
The lead investigator’s first log entry stated: “This entry is being made to show that this case is a SPECIAL and was an investigation requested by Sheriff Baca.”
Records show that when Baca ordered the investigation, a sheriff’s sergeant acknowledged the case was outside the Sheriff Department’s territory and contacted the Beverly Hills police. Lt. Steve Seeger of the Beverly Hills Police Department said he still considered the case a civil court matter, but ultimately allowed Baca’s department to investigate the case after persistence from the sheriff’s department. Baca defended the incursion into the Beverly Hills jurisdiction because he said the allegations of lease forgery were “too complicated” for the local police department.
The investigation lasted almost four months, with more than 115 hours devoted to the case. After the four-month investigation, the Sherriff’s Department submitted their findings to prosecutors, who declined to file criminal charges due to a lack of evidence.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Baca downplayed his own involvement in launching the investigation, adding that Delijani did not receive any preferential treatment. But law enforcement experts said it is unusual for one police agency to launch an investigation in another agency’s jurisdiction without first being invited to do so.
Eugene O’Donnell, a professor of law and police studies at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, told the Los Angeles Times the case “smacks of the worst kind of special treatment,” adding, “It’s incumbent on the sheriff to explain why this case merited this kind of intensive resource allocation.” A jury in a civil trial on the lease dispute recently found in favor of Delijani, ruling that the landlord did not have to reimburse his tenant.
Baca defended his actions. “Being the sheriff of this county, we can investigate any crime in this county,” Baca said. “That’s a county-wide service we do. You can’t say no to anybody.”
Baca described Delijani as no more than a friendly acquaintance whom he talks with once every couple of years. Delijani, who made his money as a real estate developer and a pioneer in the city’s fashion district, is well-known for his political contributions in Los Angeles County.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Delijani regularly sends Baca gifts and donations, including a $150 gift basket in 2003, $200 worth of liquor in 2005, $65 worth of spirits in 2006, $200 worth of wine in 2007, three bottles of wine in 2008 and $88 worth of wine in 2009. Delijani also donated $1,000 to Baca’s political committee in 2005 and another $1,000 in 2006 through Delijani’s company, Delson Investment. In one day in 2009, members of the Delijani family donated $5,000 to Baca’s officeholder account, $5,000 to his attorneys’ fees fund and $5,000 to his campaign committee.
But Baca said his relationship with Delijani did not affect his decision to order an investigation. “I like Mr. Delijani,” Baca said, adding that he also likes “people who are homeless” and makes no distinction in his professional life, adding that it was not uncommon for him to personally request criminal investigations into relatively low-level crimes.
