Published 03/04/2010 - 9:58 p.m. PST
Legendary Beverly Hills family, the Max Factors, will auction their
private collection of jewelry, art and silver.
All
proceeds from the property of Dorothy and Sidney Factor and son Max
Factor III will be donated to several City organizations including a
large endowment to benefit Beverly Hills High School’s music program.
The auction begins March 31 and is organized through Heritage Auction
Beverly Hills.
The auction will prominently feature
important pieces from the couples’
extensive collection over their
65-year marriage and is held in memory
of Sidney Factor and his
commitment to philanthropy.
Published 03/04/2010 - 10:00 p.m. PST
Planning a remodel and think Beverly Hills won’t notice if your
builder ignores City approved plans?
Think again.
A single family residence at 1201 Laurel Way approved for a
remodel
that allowed for a demolition of only 50 percent of the
structure was
issued a stop work notice after the City’s building
department realized
90 percent of the home had been torn down.
Project Supervisor Keith Bae claims he was given the okay to
do so by a City building inspector named Steve Tabor.
Published 02/25/2010 - 8:03 p.m. PST
A no-name beauty queen from Pasadena appears to be using her
self-appointed title of “Miss Beverly Hills” and her public
opposition
to gay marriage as a way to earn her 15 minutes of
fame.
Lauren Ashley, a 23-year-old contestant in the 2011
Miss California USA
pageant, has made recent headlines for her
opposition to gay marriage
under the title of “Miss Beverly Hills.”
But Beverly Hills states Ashley does not represent the
City in any capacity.
Published 02/25/2010 - 7:53 p.m. PST
The 9900 Wilshire Blvd. property controlled by Project Lotus LLC, a
joint venture with Kaupthing Bank and Guernsey based development
company, CPC Group, was foreclosed on Thursday morning in Norwalk,
Calif. by means of a public auction conducted at 10: 30 am.
There were no bidders other than the lender, Banco Inbursa,
which now owns the property.
Spokeswoman from CPC Group,
Nina Sanders, said early Thursday morning that CPC and the lender had
reached a final agreement.
When asked whether the
agreement called for the public sale to proceed today, she declined to
comment.
Published 02/25/2010 - 3:51 p.m. PST
FEB. 25, 2010 1:53 p.m.—It was once sunshine and blue skies for
Beverly Hills real estate agent and licensed appraiser Kyle Grasso.
But now the only light he will be seeing is through prison
bars.
Grasso was sentenced today to one year and
one day in federal prison
and five years of a supervised released for
his role in a $40 million
Ponzi scheme.
He will also
have to pay $13,070,148 in restitution fees.
Published 02/25/2010 - 2:04 p.m. PST
Feb. 25, 2010 11:55 a.m.—The 9900 Wilshire Blvd. property
controlled by
Project Lotus LLC, a joint venture with Kaupthing Bank
and Guernsey
based development company, CPC Group, was foreclosed on
this morning in
Norwalk, Calif. by means of a public auction
conducted at 10: 30 am.
Published 02/18/2010 - 8:47 p.m. PST
Plush Ultra Lounge, Beverly Hills’ only nightclub and its adjacent Bar
210, featuring cuisine by Top Chef Alum Marcel Vigneron, open this
weekend in a 7,000 square-foot-space at The Beverly Hilton.
What most people adore about living in
Los Angeles are rooms with
rich colors accentuated by
contemporary fixtures, hidden enclaves in an
already masked locale
serving teasingly delicious bites coupled with
habit-forming
cocktails, that mix all the right elements to create the
perfect spot
after dark.
Published 03/04/2010 - 10:03 p.m. PST
The Courier’s online web site, bhcourier.com, stunned local readers
and advertisers with its most recent results from Google analytics.
The
stats revealed a worldwide audience and following throughout
California
and the United States with 4.2 million total page views,
816,771
visitors, and more than 12.4 million hits in the last year
alone.
Published 02/25/2010 - 8:05 p.m. PST
It isn’t officially spring in Beverly Hills until the annual BHEF
Apple
Ball preparations get underway. Thursday, Beverly Hills
Education
Foundation CEO Dev Hankin announced the 2010 honorees.
This year finds Shawn and Larry King, acclaimed
television and radio
host and notable City personality, the
recipients The Bosse Spirit of
Philanthropy Award. The award, named
for residents and long-time
Beverly Hills Unified School District
donors Lili and Jon Bosse,
recognizes excellence in contributions to
philanthropy to the City and
world at large.
Published 02/25/2010 - 8:00 p.m. PST
It was once sunshine and blue skies for Beverly Hills real estate
agent and licensed appraiser Kyle Grasso.
But now the
only light he will be seeing is through prison bars.
The Beverly Hills agent was sentenced today to one year and
one day in
federal prison and five years of a supervised released for
his role in
a $40 million Ponzi scheme.
He will
also have to pay $13,070,148 in restitution fees.
Last
August, a jury convicted Grasso of criminal conspiracy, bank
fraud,
numerous loan fraud counts, and money laundering, according to
Thom
Mrozek, Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Published 02/25/2010 - 7:49 p.m. PST
To promote Alice In Wonderland, Disney trotted out its stars during
a Hollywood fan fest. Mia Wasikowski plays Alice, with Helena Bonham
Carter as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, with Johnny
Depp appearing as the Mad Hatter. See more on George Christy's
page.
Published 02/25/2010 - 2:04 p.m. PST
Feb. 25, 2010 11:55 a.m.—The 9900 Wilshire Blvd. property
controlled by
Project Lotus LLC, a joint venture with Kaupthing Bank
and Guernsey
based development company, CPC Group, was foreclosed on
this morning in
Norwalk, Calif. by means of a public auction
conducted at 10: 30 am.
Published 02/19/2010 - 1:06 p.m. PST
Posted 10:52 a.m. Feb. 19, 2010 : The Courier learned exclusively
early this morning that the public sale of 9900 Wilshire Blvd. has
been postponed by the lender until Feb. 25, according to LPS Agency
Sales and Posting.
Published 02/18/2010 - 8:43 p.m. PST
Beverly Hills real estate agent and licensed real estate appraiser
Kyle Grasso will be sentenced on Feb. 25 following his conviction on a
$40 million mortgage fraud case last August.
The jury
convicted Grasso of criminal conspiracy, bank fraud, numerous loan
fraud counts, and money laundering.
The U.S. Attorney’s
Office is recommending three years in prison, according to Thom
Mrozek, Public Affairs Officer.
Mrozek stated the office
thinks Grasso should receive a sentence in line with the co-defendant
on the case, Lila Rizk who was recently sentenced to 36 months in
prison.
“Grasso and Rizk played roughly similar roles in
the mortgage fraud debacle. Both acted as outside, licensed
professionals who were indispensable in facilitating the fraud at the
behest of Fitzgerald and Abrams,” according to the court document
filed by the US Attorney’s Office. “Both profited handsomely for their
corrupt services, although neither Grasso nor Rizk benefited in the
same manner as the main fraudsters. Grasso and Rizk were, in a
“big picture” view, similarly situated in the fraud scheme, and should
receive comparable sentences from this court.”
The office
is also objecting to Grasso’s request for home detention, said Mrozek.