Prosecutor Says 5 Extortion Suspects Were on a ‘Quest’ for Power, Money

Five men accused of being part of an extortion ring that preyed on their fellow Iranians were on a “quest” for power and money when they forced their way into ownership of two businesses, a prosecutor said Monday.

During her opening statement in the Los Angeles Superior Court trial of the five men, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michelle Rosenblatt outlined how part owners of two businesses--an Encino nightclub and a downtown fast-food restaurant--were allegedly threatened with violence if they did not give up their shares of the businesses.

Charged with extortion and assault are Masieh Pourahmad, 42, Kazem Lavasani, 43, Mansour Bagheri, 47, Jahangir Zahedi, 43, and his brother, Faramarz Zahedi, 36. All five men, who live in the San Fernando Valley, have pleaded not guilty.

The crimes occurred between 1989 and this year, Rosenblatt said. The men were indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury earlier this year.

Rosenblatt said Pourahmad, the alleged leader of the ring, will also be linked by evidence to the Jan. 15, 1991, assault on Iraj Rostami, the editor of the Iran News, an Encino-based Iranian language newspaper. Rostami was shot at, beaten and hit by his assailants’ car in the parking garage at his Ventura Boulevard office but not seriously injured.

Rosenblatt said prosecution witnesses will testify that prior to the assault Pourahmad spoke of “gaining influence in the Iranian community by harming a popular man in the community” and later took credit for the attack on Rostami.

In the extortion schemes, Rosenblatt said, the suspects gained control of the Cabaret Lido in Encino and the Doris Donald restaurant in downtown Los Angeles by purchasing small shares of the businesses and then threatening other investors into dropping out without their money.

During one meeting with a victim at Cabaret Lido, Pourahmad appeared with a sword in one hand, a knife in the other and a handgun in his waistband, the prosecutor said. He then used the sword to cut an arm of one of his own associates and told the extortion victim that if he reported the extortion to police the ring would report that he had attacked the associate with a knife.

Another victim told police he had a gun pointed at his head and was told if he did not relinquish his investment in the Doris Donald restaurant “his wife and family would be tied up and raped,” Rosenblatt said.

The prosecutor said other victims included a man who was told to pay $200,000 to Pourahmad or his son would be kidnaped, and a patron of Cabaret Lido who had his car taken by Pourahmad, who then demanded $700 for its return.

Attorneys for the defendants denied that their clients were involved in any illegal activities. Pourahmad’s attorney, Tom Stanley, said his client was with several other men at a dinner on the night Rostami, the newspaper editor, was attacked.

In his opening statement, Stanley said, “There were no assaults, no extortions and no crimes committed by Mr. Pourahmad.”