HOWARD, GAIL,
JOEY & SCOTT
NISKAR
NEWS
Wish All Their
Friends & Relatives
Jewish Leader In L.A.
Charged With Fraud
A HAPPY
TOM TUGEND
PASSOVER
Special to The Jewish News
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66
Friday, April 10, 1987
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
os Angeles — The
regional president of the
American Friends of 'Ibl
Aviv University and two
other men have been ordered
to stand trial in federal court
on charges that they have
fraudulently inflated the
value of a property, sought by
the U.S. National Park Ser-
vice, by about $2 million.
Jerry Oren, 61, a real estate
developer and one of the most
respected members of the
local Israeli community, was
indicted on the charges by a
federal grand jury in early
March. Also indicted were
two former consultants to his
firm, Oren Realty and
Development Co., 56-year old
Radoslav Sutnar of Los
Angeles, and Moshe Ziv, 36,
of New York.
At their arraignment, the
three men pleaded not guilty
and were released on $10,000
bond each. They are due for a
pretrial hearing on May 18
and for trial on May 26.
According to the indict-
ment in the complex case,
Oren owned a 336-acre tract
of undeveloped land, called
Cheeseboro Canyon, in
western Los Angeles County,
which the National Park Ser-
vice wished to incorporate in-
to its Santa Monica Moun-
tains Recreation Area.
Serious dealings began in
1983 between Oren and the
Trust for Public Land, a non-
profit conservation group
negotiating on behalf of the
Park Service. In 1984, the
trust ordered an appraisal
which put the value of the
tract at $5.8 million.
After receiving a copy of
the appraisal, Oren allegedly
said he had received higher
offers for the property. Short-
ly afterwards, according to
the indictment, Oren phoned
Ziv in New York and asked
him to write a letter in-
dicating that a client of Ziv's
real estate firm wanted to buy
the Cheeseboro Canyon land.
Ziv allegedly fabricated
such a letter which included
an offer of $9 3 million for the
tract. On receipt, Oren and
Sutnar allegedly changed the
date on the letter to back
Oren's earlier claim that there
were higher bidders for the
land sought by the Park
Service.
On the basis of the pur-
ported New York offer, the
trust recalculated the value of
the land to $8,4 million and
presented this figure to the
Park Service.
In early 1985, Oren Realty
sold the land for $7 5 million
to the trust, which im-
mediately resold it to the
Park. Service for $8 million.
Oren's office referred our
call to Oren's lawyer, Burton
Marks, who stated:
"Mr. Oren denies any
wrongdoing, whatsoever. All
the transactions were above-
board and were conducted
with the full knowledge of the
National Park Service. The
price paid for the property
was a fair one."
Marks specifically denied
that Oren had altered the
date on the letter from Ziv,
containing the allegedly
fraudulent $9.3 million bid.
According to conversations
with four of Oren's friends
and acquaintances, Oren was
raised in 'Ibl Aviv and was
wounded while serving in the
Israeli army during the War
of Independence. He came to
the United States in the ear-
ly '50s to study architecture
and engineering, then became
a real estate salesman, broker (
and developer, and estab-
lished his own firm.
Those interviewed unani-
mously described Oren in
such words as "generous,
warm, friendly and compas-
sionate." Said one friend,
Shimon Erem, "there isn't
one Israeli cause that Jerry
hasn't supported generously."
Another friend noted that
"Jerry has done many mitz-
vot and has done so quietly,
behind the scenes."
Among the causes closest
to Oren's heart has been 'Ibl
Aviv University, and he cur-
rently serves as president of
the Western Region for the
university's American sup-
port group. He has endowed
a Chair in Solid State Physics
at the university.
His friends say that Oren
has also been a substantial
supporter of Ben-Gurion
University, the Hebrew
University, Zbl Aviv Founda-
tion, Israel Bonds, the Real
Estate Division of the United
Jewish Fund and the Jewish
Iblevision Network. He is
also said to be active in
Republican Party affairs.
Oren faces charges of wire
fraud and causing a false
statement to be made to an
agency of the U.S. govern-
ment. If convicted on both
counts, Oren could be
sentenced to a maximum of
10 years in prison and
$11,000 in fines.