L.A. Now Live: County Assessor John Noguez hit with more charges

Join us at 9 a.m. when we talk with Times reporter Jack Dolan about new felony charges filed against Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez.

Noguez and tax consultant Ramin Salari, already accused of orchestrating a wide-ranging pay-to-play scheme, were hit with a dozen new charges Monday of illegally lowering the tax bills on three commercial buildings in exchange for bribes.

Both men pleaded not guilty to the new charges, which include grand theft and embezzlement, and have denied wrongdoing since their arrests in October 2012. Prosecutors say Salari paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes over the years to get Noguez and two of his deputies to illegally lower property taxes for his clients.

Prosecutors said Monday that the total loss to the county from the long-running scheme is more than $10 million in tax revenue.

Despite the charges, and spending five months in jail while trying to raise money for his $1-million bail, Noguez officially remains the assessor of Los Angeles County, an elected position that makes him responsible for setting the taxable values on more than a 2.5 million pieces of real estate, the largest local tax roll in the country.

Noguez took a leave of absence in June 2012 after the arrest of one of his deputies, but he continues to receive his roughly $200,000 county salary. He cannot be removed from office unless he is convicted of a crime or a new assessor is elected. The next election is scheduled for November 2014.