Beaumont suspects own coastal land, 60 bank accounts

Some of the former Beaumont city officials who were arrested Tuesday on embezzlement allegations own a 27-acre coastal property along the Pacific Coast Highway, a 5-acre estate in Riverside and a cabin in South Lake Tahoe.

These properties were revealed in court documents Wednesday as authorities began efforts to freeze the assets of six former Beaumont city officials. Prosecutors have asked a Riverside County judge to lock down at least 13 California properties and more than 60 bank accounts.

The long list of properties and bank accounts provides at least some hope that Beaumont residents could recover some of the money lost to the public corruption alleged by prosecutors. The DA’s office has estimated the total loss to taxpayers at $43 million, and vowed to recover as much as it could from the suspects.

The properties also include the Palm Desert home of Alan Kapanicas, the former Beaumont city manager, who is facing more than 30 felony charges for allegedly embezzling from the city. Kapanicas lives in the Sun City neighborhood.

Kapanicas is one of seven Beaumont city officials accused of puppeteering the city government for their own gain. Prosecutors have said the officials pocketed development fees, funneled money to their own companies and even used tax dollars to hand out interest-free loans.

The other suspects are: David Dillon, Beaumont’s former economic development director; Ernest Egger, the former city planner; Deepak Moorjani, the former director of public works; Joseph Sandy Aklufi, the former city attorney, William Aylward, the former finance director and Frank Coe; the former police chief. Prosecutors are working to freeze the assets of everyone except for Coe, who played the smallest role in the alleged scheme.

Most of the properties are owned by Egger and Moorjani. Egger owns the Tahoe cabin and two homes and a large land parcel in the coastal city of Mendocino. Moorjani owns homes in Beaumont, Irvine, Anaheim and a two-story house with a cathedral-like entrance in Yorba Linda. He also has 33 bank accounts.

“I had no idea,” said Beaumont Mayor Mike Lara, when told about the properties on Wednesday. “That’s really really interesting.”

Lara, who was first elected in 2014, is part of a new City Council that is attempting to steer Beaumont in the wake of the high-reaching arrests. He said morale in the city is low, but promised it will rebound.

“As you can understanding, this is a very tough thing to go through,” Lara said. “You’ve got people who worked with these individuals for a number of years, and so they are disappointed, shocked and frustrated. And yet I’ve seen that our city employees are a resilient group, and I’m very proud to work with them.”

Prosecutors have said the corruption in Beaumont began in the 1990s, when the city began work with an outside firm, Urban Logic Consultants. Three employees from that company — Dillon, Egger and Moorjani — were put in charge of Beaumont’s planning, economic development and public works. From these positions, the suspects advised the city to issue new bonds while making payments to their own company with money from the bond sales.

The embezzlement scheme grew and evolved over the next three decades, expanding to development fees and interest-free loans, prosecutors said. Last April, the FBI raided Beaumont City Hall and the office of Urban Logic Consultants, gathering documents that led to Tuesday’s arrests.

Despite the allegations that Urban Logic siphoned millions from the city, the company is still attempting to bill the city for more than $700,000 in what it claims is unpaid work. About one week before the arrests, the company filed a claim demanding payment for 100 unpaid invoices.

The Beaumont City Council rejected the claim on Tuesday. Mayor Lara said the decision was not difficult “considering the circumstances.” Lara said he was shocked that a company that was accused of stealing so much would still send the city a bill.

“I remember thinking ‘Ok – really?’” Lara said.

Attorney Laurence Phillips, who represents Urban Logic Consultants, refused to comment.

Public Safety Reporter Brett Kelman can be reached at 760 778 4642 or

br**********@de*******.com











. You can follow him on Twitter at TDSbrettkelman.

BEAUMONT SUSPECTS’ PROPERTIES

Prosecutors are trying to freeze the assets of six former Beaumont city officials who have been arrested in a public corruption probe. Here is a breakdown of their properities, according to court documents:

Ernest Alois Egger, former city planner

Deepak Moorjani, former director of public works

Dave William Dillon, former director of economic development

Joseph Sany Aklufi, former city attorney

Alan Charles Kapanicas, former city manager

William Aylward, former finance director