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In a case scheduled to go to a pre-trial hearing early in December, the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, grand jury indictment in hand, has accused well-known San Fernando Valley lawyer Jerome Eisenberg of fraud, money laundering and perjury, primarily in connection with property deals in which individual investors lost as much as $565,000.
Additionally, two institutional lenders, Western Financial and First Nationwide, were also victimized by Eisenberg, alleged Deputy District Attorney Don Tamura, who is handling the case.
One of Eisenberg's attorneys, Harold Greenberg, last week vigorously denied the D.A.'s charges and described Eisenberg, 35, as a "young, extremely bright lawyer" who worked on real estate transactions in the late 1980s and 1990.
By Greenberg's account, when the market slumped, investors and others started suing Eisenberg, disgruntled at their market losses. The D.A.'s prosecution stems from a failed civil suit, stated Greenberg.
When asked why the D.A. would spend thousands of man-hours pursuing Eisenberg, Greenberg answered, "You'll have to ask them (the D.A.'s office) that." Greenberg said Eisenberg would not be available for comment.
Reached last week for comment, Tamura would only say, "There are sufficient facts and evidence to prove the charges we have brought."
According to the 54-count indictment, Eisenberg, a lawyer for Pavilion Escrow Co. at 16530 Ventura Blvd. in Encino, induced investors and lenders into scams by falsifying trust deeds or other real estate documents.
In one case, a doctor with St. Vincent's Hospital bought a second trust on...