Land Investor Accused of Bribe Attempt

A prominent real estate broker and developer has been arrested for allegedly offering a bribe to a Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee in exchange for help boosting the prices of several properties along the proposed Metro Rail extension in East Los Angeles, transit officials and police said Friday.

Sarkis “Sam” Danielian, owner of Danielian Real Estate Services, is accused of attempting to gain confidential information about MTA’s Metro Rail plans that would increase the values of the three properties, in which Danielian is an investor, officials said.

Glendale police arrested Danielian, 40, at his Glenoaks Boulevard office Thursday evening and charged him with felony counts of offering bribes to executive officers and with conspiracy to defraud. He was released from custody after posting $25,000 bail, police said.

Danielian’s arrest capped a 10-week investigation by the MTA Inspector General’s Office that was launched after the Glendale resident allegedly contacted an employee in the agency’s real estate department in early December seeking the information.

The employee, Bill Satterfield, reported the call to MTA authorities, who directed him to continue speaking with Danielian, said John Waynes, deputy inspector general for investigations.

“Under our direction, [Satterfield] had a total of three meetings and three phone calls in which the suspect attempted to gain confidential information about the MTA’s real estate plans,” Waynes said.

Investigators allegedly overheard Danielian offering “to pay Mr. Satterfield to help boost the prices of the land parcels he was interested in,” Waynes said.

Danielian, who authorities said owns more than a dozen real-estate, investment and construction businesses in Glendale, could not be reached for comment Friday.