Noguez returns to LA from Mexico after house, office’s raided by law enforcement

Sources: Embattled Los Angeles County Assessor is “devastated” by raids.

Los Angeles County Assessor John R. Noguez has returned to Los Angeles from Mexico and is expected to be back in his office at the Los Angeles County Hall of Administration sometime this week, perhaps as early as Monday, Los Cerritos Community Newspaper has learned exclusively.

Noguez and the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office was the target of a massive raid that took place over a week ago when hundreds of armed law enforcement officials, led by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office of Public Integrity raided 12 different locations in two different states.

Noguez is the target of a wide ranging criminal investigation that deals with his dealings with flamboyant property appraisal agent Ramin Salari, who is headquartered in Arizona.

Los Cerritos Community Newspaper was told over the weekend from employees who work inside Noguez inner circle that he is “devastated” by the raid. The source did not want to be identified.
Noguez has not been seen in public during the past week, and was reportedly in Mexico visiting family members after the recent death of his estranged father.

The raids at Noguez office took place on April 26 and literally left hundreds of Assessor employees locked out of their offices for several hours. Some employees in the Assessor’s office were held in a secured basement location at the Los Angeles County Hall of Administration.

Los Cerritos Community Newspaper was the first media agency to report that Noguez and his office was being investigated in a Feb. 5th article that detailed the scope of the probe. Since then, hundreds of newspapers, radio stations, and broadcast news outlets have reported on the investigation included in Europe, the Far East, and in South America and Mexico.

Noguez press spokesman Louis Reyes has not issued any official statement to the media since the raids took place, and several calls by Los Cerritos Community Newspaper to his office have gone unanswered.

–By Brian Hews, Reporter