Fugitive Slumlord Spotted in Mansion but Eludes Police

Elusive slumlord Vijaynand Sharma, one of Los Angeles’ most notorious fugitives, has slipped through the fingers of the law again, even though he has been living in luxury in Rancho Palos Verdes for the last six months virtually under the noses of his would-be captors.

Sharma has eluded capture for four years, ever since he skipped out on $2-million bail, a 20-month jail term, $153,000 in fines and a number of pending criminal trials, all in connection with the wretched conditions at buildings he owned.

The former Studio City resident hid out in Scotland, at one point vowing to a Times reporter in a telephone interview that he would rather be dead than captured.

But recently, say authorities, he came home to his sister’s 7,000-square-foot mansion on Seacove Drive and settled in, relaxing in the sun in the front yard and making his way to the local market.

Police finally discovered his whereabouts in July--they declined to say how--and hurried to secure a search warrant from a judge over the phone. Meanwhile, they staked out the house, located on a bluff overlooking Abalone Cove.

But by the time they combed through the house just hours later, Sharma had vanished.

“When the cops went in, they couldn’t find him,” said Deputy City Atty. Richard M. Bobb of the Interagency Slum Housing Task Force. “But we know he was there.”

Sharma’s most recent escape was only the latest in a series of frustrating episodes in a manhunt that began in 1988. A wily expert in constructing aliases, Sharma eluded the FBI in New Jersey, lived in a Scottish inn, then apparently went to India and elsewhere, authorities said Tuesday.

From his safe haven in Scotland 18 months ago, Sharma vowed that he would “rather be dead” than serve jail time for his conviction in the largest-ever criminal case brought by the city against a landlord.

“He’s just thumbing his nose at everybody,” said Detective George Rose, who works the Fugitive Detail for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “He’s here, apparently trying to conduct some business.”

After fleeing police July 9, Sharma was believed to be headed for Las Vegas. Rose and other authorities believe he may be there to get in contact with some of his former business associates in the hotel and motel business.

But because he disappeared without a trace when the house was searched, authorities said there is a slight chance that Sharma has remained in or near the mansion, or that he hid there until the coast was clear.

Property records show the six-bedroom house is co-owned by Sharma’s sister, Mintra Sharma, and her husband. They could not be reached for comment. A house sitter said they are expected to return home today.

But Rose and city prosecutors handling the case said Sharma was seen by neighbors, and that they personally had him under surveillance for several hours. During that time, Rose said, Sharma and his son tinkered with a car engine in the house’s front driveway. Authorities also said they identified and later spoke to the girlfriend whom Sharma had taken with him to Scotland, where he lived the life of an innkeeper.

Nevada authorities are on the lookout for Sharma. But he has slipped away from a police dragnet at least once before--the FBI arrested him on a fugitive warrant in New Jersey in 1988, but he posted bail, then disappeared.

“The first thing I thought of when I heard he was back was how do we get him,” said Bobb. “If he is that arrogant to think he can come back without paying his debt to society, I want to see him in custody as soon as possible. It’s totally outrageous.”

Sharma, who will be 45 on Saturday, has said he is innocent of the charges against him, and that he fled because he had been unfairly prosecuted and convicted. He has described himself as being “like a social worker,” who helped provide affordable housing to the city’s poor.

Bobb and other prosecutors disagreed, saying evidence presented at his trial proved he was forcing many of his hundreds of tenants in five buildings to live in filthy, rat-infested apartments that lacked heat and hot water. Conditions in other buildings owned or operated by Sharma were similar, Bobb said.

“He’s one of the worst slumlords in the history of Los Angeles, running some of the worst slums in the world,” Bobb said. “The sooner we can get him, after he has harmed so many people, the better it will be.”

Sharma’s conviction on 112 counts of housing violations was the most ever won by the city against a landlord. He could not be extradited to the United States from Scotland or other countries because he had been convicted of criminal misdemeanors, which are not covered by U.S. extradition treaties.

Authorities have pursued every avenue possible since then, but Sharma has remained beyond their reach, they said Tuesday. Because of his parole violations, Sharma could face as much as 56 years in jail, and more if convicted in any of the at least five pending cases, said Bobb and Deputy City Atty. Stephanie Sautner, head of the slum task force.

“This has been a very high-profile case,” said Rose. “It gets terribly confusing, politically, legally and every other way. We’d like to clear our books of him.”