A Day in Court: The Suspect
Nadya Madhavi arrived at Van Nuys Municipal Court shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday to face charges growing out of the illegal conversion of a single-family house into a tenement with three apartments.
Her husband Nasir Shaikh arrived about an hour later.
They did not make a good first impression with court officials.
It wasn't the first time either. Mahdavi failed to appear in court in September and a warrant was issued. It took Building and Safety officials weeks of checking out various addresses for them in the Valley before they finally tracked her down. She surrendered and immediately made $5,000 bail.
On Wednesday, Assistant City Attorney Don Cocek who handles building code violations and other matters before Commissioner Rebecca Omens in Department 101, eventually made his way over to talk with them as he does in all these cases.
His goal is to get things fixed like using the law to make pack rats clean up their property and people to fix code violations.
Shaikh and Mahdavi, pictured above on the left with friends, immediately wanted a Public Defender for her, which seemed odd since they run real estate and mortgage businesses and drive a Porsche and a Mercedes.
Told that wouldn't fly, they walked away and Mahdavi muttered "sack of shit" within earshot of the bailiff who ordered them from the courtroom with a lecture on proper decorum.
After they returned, we waited and listened to a parade of people with drug problems, domestic violence problems, code violations and similar matters. It seemed like Mahdavi and Shaikh were being given time to make an attitude adjustment.
When they took a break from the courtroom, I spoke with them briefly about the house she bought in January and turned into apartments for rent, then flipped ownership to an employee who works at Wall Street Properties, a company she's listed as being part of. As the violations piled up, the house was flipped again, this time to Fidelity Investments LLC, which lists her as officer.
"I don't own the property," she told me. "I have nothing to do with the companyt."
Shaikh insisted he was nothing more than the manager of properties for Fidelity, which is "owned by investors."
I told him the neighbors are very upset about the house and have been for eight months or so.
"We're here to rectify the situation," he said. "We want to fix any citations. We want the neighbors to be happy."
By noon when the morning session had ended without Commissioner Omens calling their case, they were gone and due back for the afternoon session.
To be continued...
Nadya Madhavi arrived at Van Nuys Municipal Court shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday to face charges growing out of the illegal conversion of a single-family house into a tenement with three apartments.
Her husband Nasir Shaikh arrived about an hour later.
They did not make a good first impression with court officials.
It wasn't the first time either. Mahdavi failed to appear in court in September and a warrant was issued. It took Building and Safety officials weeks of checking out various addresses for them in the Valley before they finally tracked her down. She surrendered and immediately made $5,000 bail.
On Wednesday, Assistant City Attorney Don Cocek who handles building code violations and other matters before Commissioner Rebecca Omens in Department 101, eventually made his way over to talk with them as he does in all these cases.
His goal is to get things fixed like using the law to make pack rats clean up their property and people to fix code violations.
Shaikh and Mahdavi, pictured above on the left with friends, immediately wanted a Public Defender for her, which seemed odd since they run real estate and mortgage businesses and drive a Porsche and a Mercedes.
Told that wouldn't fly, they walked away and Mahdavi muttered "sack of shit" within earshot of the bailiff who ordered them from the courtroom with a lecture on proper decorum.
After they returned, we waited and listened to a parade of people with drug problems, domestic violence problems, code violations and similar matters. It seemed like Mahdavi and Shaikh were being given time to make an attitude adjustment.
When they took a break from the courtroom, I spoke with them briefly about the house she bought in January and turned into apartments for rent, then flipped ownership to an employee who works at Wall Street Properties, a company she's listed as being part of. As the violations piled up, the house was flipped again, this time to Fidelity Investments LLC, which lists her as officer.
"I don't own the property," she told me. "I have nothing to do with the companyt."
Shaikh insisted he was nothing more than the manager of properties for Fidelity, which is "owned by investors."
I told him the neighbors are very upset about the house and have been for eight months or so.
"We're here to rectify the situation," he said. "We want to fix any citations. We want the neighbors to be happy."
By noon when the morning session had ended without Commissioner Omens calling their case, they were gone and due back for the afternoon session.
To be continued...
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Twice in recent years, Los Angeles Magazine listed Kaye among the city’s most influential people, specifically in the area of politics. Kaye has been variously described in the media as the “accidental anarchist,” “the Patrick Henry of the San Fernando Valley” and a “passionate populist.” He is now committed to
carrying on his crusade for a greater Los Angeles as an ordinary citizen. Previously, Ron worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Australian as well as papers
in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yakima, Wash. He also wrote for Newsweek magazine, The Guardian in London and the National Enquirer.
Hello Ron,
I am a reporter. I want to talk about city hall and the next round of elections. Can you call me at 510 334 8636 or dheimpel@gmail.com.
Thanks,
Daniel Heimpel
ok you've got an egyptian national and a persian with a nice rack. you've got yourself a complete set of entitled people. It is actually you who is ruining their quality of life. I am dealing with the same sort of people myself, unfortunately on all three sides of my house. Good luck, the system doesn't fear you it fears them.
Well Ron, it looks like your neighbors like to party! Perhaps you should get to know them.
Finally, Mahdavi and Shaikh are getting what they deserved they were evicted from the Topanga Canyon home they were not able to afford to purchase. They are dead beats.... Four kids that they can not even raise themselves.....