HMG-CN Investigation: District Attorney Reviewing Cerritos Councilman’s Residency Claims

Acknowledgment of review by the Los Angeles County District Attorney. Click on image to view larger document.

June 17, 2022

By Brian Hews

An investigation and story published a few weeks ago regarding Cerritos Councilman Naresh Solanki owning two homes, one in Cerritos and one in Anaheim Hills, has triggered a Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office of Integrity review of Solanki’s residency status.

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Does Cerritos Councilman Naresh Solanki Live in the City?

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It is a requirement to live in Cerritos to be a Cerritos City Councilman.

Solanki claims he lives in his 2,700 square-foot home in Cerritos versus a massive multi-million dollar 7,000 square-foot mansion in Anaheim Hills.

A District Attorney review can lead to a formal investigation and criminal charges.

Solanki’s Cerritos home could fit in the backyard of the Anaheim home, the lot is over a half-acre, and the house is 7,000 square-feet with seven bedrooms and eight baths, and an outdoor swimming pool area that resembles a high-end resort.

According to the online realty website Zillow, the house is worth more than $4.1 million and carries a mortgage payment of $21,000, with annual property taxes of $40,000.

The house’s beauty is only upstaged by the gaudy, over-the-top French-style interior that would make Louis XIV blush, an interior that would seem to completely contradict any claim by Solanki that he lives in his home Cerritos.

The house boasts a huge kitchen with top-notch kitchen equipment worth hundreds of thousands, a state-of-the-art climate-controlled humidor and wine cellar, and bronze-coated bathrooms, complete with bronze-coated sinks.

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From top, front of the house, the pool area, kitchen with Italian tile, and a fully stocked cellar/humidor.

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Online title documents show that Solanki bought the Anaheim mansion for $3.4 million in May 2016, immediately after being sworn in as a Cerritos City Council member.

And in another fact Solanki will have to explain, HMG–CN has obtained a picture of a wedding event involving Solanki’s family, which shows the event was held at the Anaheim mansion.

When asked about the wedding event, Solanki did not comment.

The revelation presents a number of major concerns for Solanki, including legal issues, a recall movement, and most sticky, explaining how he describes the $4 million-plus home as a second residence to angry Cerritos residents and constituents.

When asked for additional comment, Solanki finally answered, saying, “My son lives in [the] Anaheim house until I am ready to sell and buy another one. I bought that house to exchange – a 1031 exchange – home in Diamond Bar.”

Is he telling the truth?

A check of title records by HMG-CN shows Solanki sold the Diamond Bar home in 2013 to Lo Kuie Lein and Su Tsung Chang.

He did not buy the Anaheim mansion until 2016, and bought it from the Fermanian Family Trust.