Judge Lisa Hart-Cole
Los Angeles Superior Court
10-08-22 RE: SC087400- Complaint against then Judge Patricia Collins, Judge Lisa Hart-Cole, Attorney David Pasternak, Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) and others - for public corruption and racketeering by judges, financial institutions, and large law-firms in pretense proceedings at the Court.
Los Angles, August 22 – complaint [1] was filed with US Attorney Office, Central District of California, and Prof Laurence Tribe - Senior Counsel, US Department Of Justice, Access to Justice Initiative, by Human Rights Alert (NGO) and Joseph Zernik, PhD, against former Judge Patricia Collins, Judge Lisa Hart-Cole, Attorney David Pasternak, Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI), and Attorney Richard Ormond (Buchalter Nemer, LLP) - for public corruption and racketeering in pretense proceedings at the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Others named as accused in the complaint were Judge Jacqueline Connor, Presiding Judge Charles McCoy, Judge in Charge of Writs and Receiverships David Yaffe, Clerk of the Court John A Clarke, and Court Counsel Fredrick Bennett, who were all alleged as central figures in conduct of a racketeering enterprise at the Court.
In early December 2007, Attorney David Pasternak, acting as pretense “Receiver” on behalf of the Court under Samaan v Zernik (SC087400), was perpetrating real estate fraud, as later opined by highly-decorated FBI veteran, fraud expert James Wedick. Target of the fraud was Beverly Hills property of Complainant Zernik. Judge Jacqueline Connor had instigated the scheme two years earlier.
To accomplish the fraud, collusion by Mara Escrow, a subsidiary of ORI – a large financial institution, was required. However, Complainant alerted Mara’s Senior Escrow Officer Liz Cohen that she was about to perpetrate real estate fraud. Therefore, Ms Cohen refused to collude with Attorney Pasternak and the Court.
On December 7, 2007, to overcome the hurdles, Attorney David Pasternak and others engaged in two pretense “Ex Parte Proceedings” in two separate courthouses on the same morning:
1) In the first “Ex Parte Proceeding”, at the Beverly Hills Courthouse, Attorney David Pasternak, acting as pretense “Receiver” - with no valid and effectual Appointment Order, and Attorney Richard Ormond, on behalf of Mara Escrow, appeared before Judge Lisa Hart-Cole to request Court approval of various documents, never previously seen by Complainant, including, but not limited to:
a. “Grant Deeds”, which were later opined as “fraud”;
b. “Indemnity Agreement” for Mara Escrow – for future criminalities, and
c. Gag Orders – to prohibit pro se Defendant from speech in defense of self with escrow or with the title company, who were conspiring with Attorney Pasternak, the Court, and others to commit real estate fraud.
At the onset, Defendant filed a Peremptory Challenge with Judge Hart-Cole. In the proceeding that ensued, both Judge Hart-Cole and Attorney Richard Ormond refused to disclose the name of the latter, or the identity of the party, which he represented in Court in the proceeding.
Consequently, Judge Hart-Cole issued Minutes of Recusal. However, later she secretly “disposed” of the Minutes in Sustain - the Court’s case management system, effectively eliminating the proceeding from the record.
2) In the second “Ex Parte Proceeding”, at the Santa Monica Courthouse, Judge Patricia Collins introduced Attorney Pasternak as an “Ad Hoc Receiver”. In response to then Defendant Zernik’s objections for abuse of Free Speech and Possession rights in such “Ex Parte Proceeding”, Attorney Pasternak justified the need for the proceeding in his shortage of funds. Judge Collins then pretended in open court to approve Attorney Pasternak’s requests. However, Judge Collins secretly created for the proceeding void registration and void Minutes in Sustain – with no certification by Clerk.
Consequently, on December 17, 2007, Attorney Pasternak concluded the fraud in conveyance of title on the property. However, the fraud in conduct of Samaan v Zernik continues to this date – the case continues to be listed as “Pending” – since no Judgment was ever entered in the case.
The complaint alleged that the mere notion of conducting such proceedings at the Court reflected the impunity of the enterprise.
Pretense “Receiverships” by Attorney Pasternak in other cases at the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, were documented in complaints previously filed with the US Attorney Office. The scheme was claimed as part of the larger enterprise, founded in the conduct of pretense proceedings and issuing of pretense minutes, pretense orders, and pretense judgments. Sustain, the case management system of the Court, was alleged as the enabling tool of the racket.
The complaint, was claimed of high public policy significance, since David Pasternak, who was alleged in a series of complaints as a central figure in the enterprise, was former President of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, former Member of the California Judicial Council, and former President of Bet Tzedek (“The House of Justice”) – a prominent Los Angeles Jewish/legal charity. Therefore, the complaint alleged that his conduct reflected widespread public corruption of both the California courts and the legal profession.
Moreover, the complaint alleged that conduct of Samaan v Zernik was unique in documenting conditions, where the Los Angeles Superior Court was not only permissive and conducive, but also coercive of criminalities by financial institutions. The complaint alleged such conditions - collusion of judges, large financial institutions, and large law-firms in an enterprise - undermined any prospect of establishing effective banking regulation in the United States.
The complaint quoted the official Blue Ribbon Review Panel (2006), which concluded that the Los Angeles Superior Court “must be investigated”, and highly decorated FBI veteran, Fraud Expert James Wedick, who opined (2008) “investigation should be immediately instituted”, as well as Congressional Inquiries on FBI and US Department of Justice by the Hon Dianne Feinstein, Senator, (2008, 2010) and the Hon Diane Watson, Congresswoman, (2008) in related matters. Complainant asked the US Department of Justice to institute such investigation and accord equal protection to all 10 million residents of Los Angeles County, California.
Judges were previously prosecuted for racketeering in San Jose and San Diego, California, and in Cook County, Illinois. Judges are today prosecuted for racketeering in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Judges are also prosecuted in El Paso Texas, and large-scale corruption of the courts and the legal profession is under investigation in Florida. Senior Counsel Laurence Tribe recently warned of deteriorating conditions at the state courts in the US, comparing them to those of “third world” nations.
Human Rights Alert is dedicated to discovering, archiving, and disseminating evidence of Human Rights violations by the justice system in Los Angeles County, California, and beyond. Special emphasis is given to the unique role of computerized case management and online public access systems in the precipitous deterioration of integrity of the courts in the United States.
LINKS
[1] Complaint
