Couple Held on $2-Million Bail in Embezzlement Case
A judge Wednesday refused to reduce bail for a former Pasadena developer and his wife after their recent arrest in Miami, 14 years after they allegedly bilked investors out of millions of dollars and fled to Britain.
Bail for Stanley Seldon Sirotin and Alice Beryl Sirotin will remain at $1 million each, Los Angeles Municipal Judge Glenette Blackwell ruled. A preliminary hearing for the couple on 15 felony charges ranging from grand theft to tax evasion was delayed until July 7. Most of the charges stem from allegations that they embezzled at least $4.2 million from investors in a Pasadena retail and office complex.
The Sirotins have entered not guilty pleas.
The couple, accused in a scheme involving offshore corporations and Swiss bank accounts, were arrested last month as they got off a plane from Britain.
In 1984, according to prosecutors, the couple fled to an estate in the English countryside as their business empire crumbled.
Two years later, prosecutors filed charges against them and initiated extradition proceedings that were unsuccessful.
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