The judge overseeing the complex felony corruption case involving former Beaumont city officials appointed a receiver to manage the frozen assets of four of seven defendants in a court hearing Friday.
Judge Mac Fisher last month told the defendants he wanted to name someone with the expertise to manage the assets and that the expense would be borne by them based on the need to monitor their individual assets.
Attorneys for former City Manager Alan Kapanicas and former Public Works Director Deepak Moorjani filed written objections to the receiver appointment, saying it was premature and an unnecessary expense given the nature of their clients’ assets.
Fisher appointed the law firm of Gresham Savage Nolan & Tilden as the receiver and attorney Nicholas Firetag as the representative. Firetag will make reports about every five months.
The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office sought the appointment and in court papers noted that state law, sometimes called the “freeze and seize law,” authorizes such an appointment to preserve and maintain assets pending trial.
A different judge in May granted the district attorney’s requests to freeze the defendants’ financial assets and property holdings to protect monies that might be tapped for restitution if the defendants ultimately are convicted.
By law, defendants may seek court orders to withdraw funds to post bail, pay legal fees and for living expenses.
The criminal complaint filed in May is alleging conflicts of interest, embezzlement and misappropriation of city bonds and transportation fee funds that added up to more than $43 million. All pleaded not guilty to the charges last month.
In addition to Kapanicas and Moorjani, the defendants subject to the receiver order are former Planning Director Ernest A. Egger and former Economic Development Director David W. Dillon.
Other defendants are former Finance Director William K. Aylward; former Police Chief Francis Dennis “Frank” Coe; and former City Attorney Joseph Aklufi.
Kapanicas, 64, of Palm Desert and Aylward, 53, of Cherry Valley both are charged with six counts of embezzlement, 24 counts of misappropriation of funds and two counts of conspiracy.
Dillon, 62, of Temecula; Moorjani, 69, of Yorba Linda; and Egger, 59, of Mendocino each are charged with one count of conflict of interest and six counts of embezzlement. Aklufi of Riverside is facing six counts of embezzlement.
Coe, 52, of Redlands was charged with two counts of misappropriation of funds and one count of conspiracy stemming from interest-free loans of city funds.