State Board, Not Court, to Decide What Is Owed : Ex-Massage Parlor Owner Rebuffed on Taxes

A Superior Court judge has ruled that it is up to the state Franchise Tax Board to determine how much money former college professor and massage parlor owner Hal Mintz owes in unpaid taxes stemming from his no contest plea to two counts of state income tax evasion.

Judge David Perez, who last December sentenced Mintz to four years probation after Mintz pleaded no contest to the tax charges and to conspiracy to maintain a house of prostitution, had been expected to decide the matter.

But last Wednesday the judge tossed the decision back to the Franchise Tax Board after an attorney for the state argued that the court had no authority to rule on the matter.

The state claims that Mintz owes more than $80,000 for 1985 and 1986. Mintz claims that the amount is less than $12,000.

Long Appeals Process

Anthony Glassman, a lawyer for Mintz, asked that the judge set the amount, saying that to go through a long appeals process with the Franchise Tax Board would present a “financial burden” that his client is unable to bear.

Mintz resigned from his $45,000-a-year post at East Los Angeles College last August after widespread publicity about his massage parlor in West Hollywood.

He had taught at the college for 19 years and was chairman of its business department at the time of his resignation. Mintz has since gone to work as an assistant office manager for a commercial real estate and development company.

His massage parlor, at 8574 Santa Monica Blvd., across from City Hall in West Hollywood, was closed in February, 1988, after authorities said it was being used as a house of prostitution.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, at least 10 women had been arrested for sex-related offenses there since 1984.

The tax evasion charges stemmed from Mintz’s failure to file a return with the Franchise Tax Board for 1985 and 1986. Prosecutors said that records seized at Mintz’s home in San Marino showed that he earned at least $200,000 each of those years.

As part of a plea bargain arrangement, prosecutors agreed not to charge the former professor with pimping and pandering, which carry mandatory state prison sentences.

In imposing four years of probation, the judge ordered that one year be spent under house arrest, and that Mintz pay $10,000 in fines and all taxes owed the state.

In addition, Mintz has assumed all costs of his house arrest, which authorities say amounts to about $10 a day.

He was fitted with an electronic transmitter that allows law enforcement officials to ensure that he does not leave his home except for work, religious services or medical emergencies.

On Wednesday, Glassman argued that the plea bargain arrangement with prosecutors stipulated that a judge would determine the amount of taxes Mintz owes.

However, the judge agreed with Deputy Atty. Gen. Herbert Levin, who argued that the courts have jurisdiction over such matters only after the appeals process provided by the Franchise Tax Board has been exhausted.