Ex-Receiver in Land Sales Case Accused

The former receiver in the Marshall Redman land sales case engaged in misconduct regarding $600,813 in payments to himself and others, and should be ordered to pay the money back, the current receiver has alleged.

Richard Weissman, who took over as receiver on Redman’s real estate holdings last year, requested that a $500,000 bond posted by Donald W. Henry be seized by the court in order to pay back most of the funds.

Henry, whose attorney could not be reached for comment, is believed to be in Australia. He, like Weissman, had been hired to sort out the claims of alleged victims of land fraud by Redman in the Antelope Valley.

But Weissman alleged in a motion filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court that Henry paid $150,000 to creditors who held liens on worthless land, and paid $323,025 to another creditor without court permission. Weissman also alleged his predecessor had paid an undisclosed amount of money to conduct an evaluation of Redman’s real estate holdings.

“Neither Mr. Henry, nor anyone else, conducted any evaluation of land inventory under the control of the receivership,” Weissman said in a declaration filed with the motion Tuesday.

Henry also failed to properly document about $239,000 in fees paid to himself, the motion alleges.

“He paid himself that much and the court has not approved it,” said Jerry Hager, Weissman’s attorney. “He did not provide an accounting for how he came up with that number. The court ordered him to provide a further accounting and he didn’t.”

The amount Henry paid to himself and his activities during his 19-month stint as receiver have been a matter of contention for nearly a year.

In June 1996, Henry was fired after a federal investigation of his activities in more than 250 cases in which he had been named trustee, according to court documents.

Soon after, Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien ordered Henry to account for his fees and for his time spent as receiver. At that time, only three of 1,500 cases had been dispatched since Redman’s assets were seized in 1994.

Henry failed to show up for several court dates, and was held in contempt of court by O’Brien. His attorney, Gary Byron Roach, said in December that Henry had gone to Australia and was ill.

When the former receiver did not attend a hearing Jan. 17, O’Brien issued a bench warrant for Henry’s arrest, according to Weissman’s motion.

Weissman, meanwhile, continues to sort thorough the case, according to Hager, and has resolved 40 of the 1,500 cases he was asked to handle.

Redman, who settled a civil case brought against him for alleged fraud in 1994, awaits trial on criminal charges. He is accused of grand theft and attempting to file forged papers in sales to mostly Spanish-speaking land buyers in the Antelope Valley.

A hearing on the motion against Henry is scheduled for July 29.