Father of woman fighting eviction pleaded guilty in tax fraud case

The father of a young woman who is fighting the foreclosure of her Diamond Bar home pleaded guilty in February to a federal tax fraud charge, court records show.

The daughter, Zeenat Ali, said her father, Ather Ali, has been estranged from the family for three years, having moved out of the home before his indictment in December 2008.

Zeenat Ali was profiled in a Los Angeles Times story Thursday focusing on her seven months of court battles to save the family home, including her lawsuit alleging wrongdoing by Deutsche Bank, Downey Savings and Arvest Bank subsidiary Central Mortgage Co. The banks wouldn’t comment.

Zeenat Ali said Friday that she had not spoken to her father since he moved out. She had not mentioned his prosecution or the split with the family in interviews before the story was published. She said she wanted to avoid talking about him because his situation has been so troubling and embarrassing for her and her mother, sister and brother.

Ather Ali was indicted on charges of conspiracy, filing false tax returns and making false claims for tax refunds. Court records show he initially pleaded not guilty but entered a guilty plea Feb. 12 to the conspiracy count in U.S. District Court in Riverside. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 21.

Ali was part of a group that allegedly used the names and Social Security numbers of dead people to file tax returns seeking $2 million in refunds. The Justice Department said the Internal Revenue Service rejected most of the claims but paid some refunds that wound up in bank accounts in Pakistan and Armenia.

Ather Ali’s lawyer, Kenneth A. Reed of Santa Ana, couldn’t be reached for comment.

In the foreclosure case, Zeenat Ali won a round in court Thursday when Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael M. Duggan suspended Deutsche Bank’s eviction effort for another 45 days.

A court commissioner previously had stayed the eviction after Ali obtained a judgment allowing her to press claims for $1.7 billion against the banks. Duggan extended that stay until Sept. 20.

For the first time in her battle, Ali retained a lawyer, Kenneth T. Zwick of Costa Mesa, to assist her at the latest hearing. Zwick argued that the judgment against the banks and other issues were serious enough to warrant putting the eviction — normally a much faster proceeding than a lawsuit — on hold.

scott.reckard@latimes.com