Backdating Letter Was an Error, Developer Says

Encino developer Jerry Y. Oren testified Friday that he had made a “very serious error” when he allowed an associate to backdate a letter concerning the appraisal of his Santa Monica Mountains property that he hoped would be purchased by the National Park Service.

The U. S. District Court case against Oren, 51, revolves around a Sept. 13, 1984, letter that prosecutors have contended the defendant used to inflate the appraised value of his property before the sale.

In the letter, a New York real estate agent told Oren that Union Pacific had offered $9.3 million for 336 acres in Cheeseboro Canyon near Agoura.

Appraiser’s Offer

In court, an appraiser said he had set his $8.4 million appraisal for the Trust for Public Land, which was acting as an intermediary for the National Park Service, based on the purported offer. A previous appraisal was $5.8 million. However, a Union Pacific executive testified earlier that no offer was ever made.

Oren’s consultant, Radoslav L. Sutner, has testified that Oren instigated the creation of the phony letter and later had the September correspondence backdated to July. Sutner has pleaded no contest to a felony charge that he helped falsify the letter.

The timing of the letter is significant because Oren told a trust representative in August, 1984--a month before the allegedly phony offer was made--that he had a competing offer for the property. He also said he was growing impatient with negotiations.

But Oren said backdating the letter was Sutner’s idea and he reluctantly agreed to it.

“Rad Sutner walked into my office and said he wanted to change the date. I had an argument with him and told him not to do it. I was busy and finally said, ‘Oh, go ahead,’ ” Oren said.

“I made a very serious error in not stopping it then,” he said.

Affect on Purchase Price

The developer contended that he did not think backdating the letter would affect the purchase price. He denied knowing that the letter was false. He said he received the letter after asking New York real estate agent Moshe Ziv to inform him of any interested buyers in his property.

Charges of fraud against Ziv were dropped in April when prosecutors did not have enough evidence that Ziv realized the letter would be used in an illegal scheme.

Oren is charged with wire fraud and making a false statement in a matter within National Park Service jurisdiction.

The appraiser from the Trust for Public Land said the letter prompted him to increase the property appraisal after Oren assured him that the offer was valid.

The trust, a nonprofit group in San Francisco that purchases land to protect it from development, bought the property from Oren Realty & Development Co. for $7.5 million. It then sold the parcels to the park service.

The trial will resume Tuesday in the courtroom of U. S. District Judge Harry L. Hupp. If convicted, Oren faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $11,000 in fines.

The prosecutor, Assistant U. S. Atty. Ralph F. Hirschmann, would not discuss whether the government will try to recover excess profits if Oren is convicted.