United States of America v. Approximately $28,121.22 in U.S. Currency

Filing 35

ORDER re 34 Joint Request for Stay filed by United States of America, signed by Judge Frank C. Damrell, Jr on 1/15/09 ORDERING this matter stayed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981(g)(1) and 981(g)(2) until July 20,2009. On or before July 20, 2009, the parties will advise the court of the status of the related investigation and whether a further stay is necessary.(Kastilahn, A)

1 LAWRENCE G. BROWN

2 KRISTIN S. DOOR, SBN 84307 3 501 I Street, Suite 10-100 4 Telephone:
Sacramento, CA 95814 [phone] Assistant U.S. Attorney

Acting United States Attorney

5 Attorney for Plaintiff 6 7 8 9 10 11 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) APPROXIMATELY $28,121.22 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY SEIZED FROM BANK OF ) AMERICA ACCOUNT NO. 03035-08079, ) HELD IN THE NAME OF SMART BUY INC.,) ) APPROXIMATELY $1,749.09 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY SEIZED FROM WASHINGTON ) MUTUAL ACCOUNT NO. 192-009936-3, ) HELD IN THE NAMES OF TINA MONJAZEB ) AND ALI TAVAF, ) ) APPROXIMATELY $277.84 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY SEIZED FROM UNION BANK OF ) CALIFORNIA ACCOUNT NO. 0361162472, ) HELD IN THE NAME OF LANGROUDI ) FAMILY LIVING TRUST, ) ) APPROXIMATELY $128,000.00 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY SEIZED FROM UNION BANK OF ) CALIFORNIA ACCOUNT NO. 797540, HELD) IN THE NAME OF LANGROUDI FAMILY ) LIVING TRUST, ) ) APPROXIMATELY $38,225.00 IN U.S. ) CURRENCY, ) ) APPROXIMATELY $4,033.00 IN U.S. ) 2:06-CV-02777-FCD-KJM JOINT REQUEST FOR STAY and ORDER THEREON IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

1

1 CURRENCY, 2 APPROXIMATELY $1,775.51 IN MONEY 3
ORDERS, APPROXIMATELY $12,520.00 IN U.S.

4 CURRENCY,

5 APPROXIMATELY $1,361.00 IN U.S. 6
CURRENCY, AND MISCELLANEOUS OTHER TOBACCO Defendants.

7 PRODUCTS, 8 9 10

) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

Plaintiff United States of America and claimant Ali Tavaf, aka

11 Ali Langroudi, submit the following Joint Request for Stay and 12 request that the Court enter an order staying all further 13 proceedings for six months, until July 20, 2009.
The Court

14 previously entered an order staying all proceedings until January 15 20, 2009.
The parties request that the stay be extended an

16 additional six months for the following reasons: 17
1. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981(g)(1), and 981(g)(2) the

18 parties seek a stay of further proceedings in this civil forfeiture 19 case.
The United States contends that the defendant currency,

20 money orders, and miscellaneous tobacco products (collectively 21 referred to as the "defendant assets") are forfeitable to the 22 United States because they are the proceeds of mail and/or wire 23 fraud, and/or are traceable to money laundering offenses.
The

24 details of the underlying criminal investigation are set forth in 25 detail the affidavit of Special Agent Gregory L. Barnett, U.S. 26 Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and 27 Explosives, attached as Exhibit A to the Complaint for Forfeiture 28 2

1 In Rem filed on December 8, 2006. 2
2. The defendant assets were seized from multiple locations

3 in Los Angeles, California, during the execution of multiple search 4 warrants and seizure warrants in October, 2006. 5
3. The United States intends to depose claimant Tavaf so the

6 United States can question him about various topics, including but 7 not limited to his knowledge of the operation of Sunrise Tobacco, 8 Smart Buy, DaBomb, Save a Buck Distributing, and others, and their 9 payment, or non-payment, of excise taxes due to the State of 10 California, Board of Equalization, in connection with the sale of 11 tobacco products.
Counsel for claimant Tavaf has informed counsel

12 for the government that if discovery proceeds, Tavaf would be 13 placed in the difficult position of either invoking his Fifth 14 Amendment right against self-incrimination and losing the ability 15 to protect his interest in the defendant assets, or waiving his 16 Fifth Amendment right and submitting to a deposition and 17 potentially incriminating himself in a related criminal 18 investigation.
If Tavaf invokes his Fifth Amendment right, the

19 United States will be deprived of the ability to explore the 20 factual basis for the claim he filed with this Court. 21
4. In addition, claimant intends to depose federal law

22 enforcement officers involved in the investigation that led to the 23 issuance of the search warrants and seizure warrants.
However,

24 the investigation is still ongoing, and allowing depositions of the 25 law enforcement investigators involved in the criminal 26 investigation would adversely affect the ability of the U.S. 27 Attorney's Office to properly investigate and prosecute their case. 28 3

1

5.

Accordingly, the parties recognize that proceeding with

2 this action at this time has potential adverse affects on the 3 related criminal investigation and/or upon claimant's ability to 4 prove his claim that the defendant assets belongs to him, and that 5 they came from legitimate sources.
For these reasons, the parties

6 jointly request that this matter be stayed an additional six months 7 until July 20, 2009.
At that time the parties will advise the

8 court of the status of the criminal investigation and will, if 9 necessary, seek a further stay. 10 Dated: January 15, 2009 11 12 13 14 15 Dated: January 15, 2009 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
By LAWRENCE G. BROWN Acting United States Attorney /s Kristin S. Door KRISTIN S. DOOR Assistant U.S. Attorney /s/ Harvey Byron HARVEY BYRON Attorney for claimant Ali Tavaf, aka Ali Langroudi (Original signature retained in Plaintiff's file) ORDER For the reasons set forth above, this matter is stayed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981(g)(1) and 981(g)(2) until July 20, 2009. On or before July 20, 2009, the parties will advise the

court of the status of the related investigation and whether a further stay is necessary. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: January 15, 2009

_______________________________________ FRANK C. DAMRELL, JR. UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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