• 0
  • Home
  • About Us
  • What We Do

Shopping Cart

GPAM
  • Home
  • About Us
  • What We Do

Drugs, money laundering and real estate: Developer Ben Neman’s guilty plea puts spotlight on DTLA empire

(Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Downtown Los Angeles developer Morad “Ben” Neman pleaded guilty to federal charges for conspiring to use his Fashion District textile company to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars in purported drug money, authorities said.

Neman, 57, owner of Neman Real Estate, and his brother Hersel, 58, face up to 21 and 28 years in federal prison, respectively, on money-laundering and tax-fraud charges for using their textile company, Pacific Eurotex Corp., to launder $370,000 from an undercover agent posing as a cash courier in 2013, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. In one case, the money they received looked to be splattered with blood.

Prosecutors said Pacific Eurotex laundered the money on four separate occasions over two-and-a-half months in 2013, with the Nemans knowing the cash came from illegal activities and that transactions above $10,000 cash needed to be reported. Ben Neman pleaded guilty to four separate counts, including conspiring to defraud the IRS, but not to launder money. Hersel Neman pleaded guilty to three counts, including conspiring to launder money, authorities said. The defendants also agreed to forfeit roughly $3.18 million to the government as part of the deal, officials said.

Neither of the brothers could be reached for comment. Ben Neman’s attorney, Terry Bird, could not immediately be reached for comment, though sources familiar with the plea deals say the pair bargained their sentences down to only two to three years.

Ben Neman was busted shortly after shelling out $22 million in May 2014 to acquire the Downtown Car Wash at 811 W. Olympic Boulevard across from L.A. Live, with hopes of building a mixed-use high-rise featuring a hotel and long-term residential units, records show. At the time of purchase, Neman told the Los Angeles Times he envisioned a tall structure with street-level retail spanning a combined 500,000 square feet. Planning the project was to take at least two years, during which the car wash would remain open, he noted. Four years later, the car-wash remains intact.

At the time of the car wash purchase, Ben Neman owned more than 5 million square feet of commercial real estate in the booming DTLA neighborhood, according to the Times. He also owns three other warehouses, including a 152,460-square-foot property at 931 E. Pico Boulevard labeled an “illegal dwelling” by city officials. Other holdings include a 39,775-square-foot office property, the Manufacturers Bank Building, located at 200 S. San Pedro Street near Little Tokyo, and a 44,430-square-foot industrial building at 663 E. 22nd Street near the Fashion District, property records show. Combined, Neman Real Estate Investments owns six properties with an estimated value of $81 million, according to Real Capital Analytics.

Ben Neman is also linked to several other LLCs, including Towne Plaza Development, Sky High Investments, Downtown Real Property Acquisitors and Yedidia Investments. It is unclear if any have significant value or own property.

In February, he listed his Wallace Neff-designed residence at 805 Linden Drive in Beverly Hills for nearly $15 million.  As of late December, he remained the owner of record of the 5,700-square-foot home.

Powered by WPeMatico

  • 29 December 2017
  • The Real Deal
  • Uncategorized
  •  Like
“Million Dollar Listing LA”: Rentin’ ain’t easy →← LA’s top 10 investment sales of 2017
  • Recent Posts

    • LA County greenlights self-certification for Altadena rebuilding May 8, 2025
    • Irvine Company aims to transform golf course into village of 3K homes May 8, 2025
    • Former LA police commissioner, prominent attorney to list Bel-Air estate for $24M May 8, 2025
    • Movers: Gambino Group nabs LA, NY agents May 8, 2025
    • Sacramento investor lists 270K sf DTLA office park leasehold May 8, 2025
  • Recent Comments

    • Archives

      • May 2025
      • April 2025
      • March 2025
      • February 2025
      • January 2025
      • December 2024
      • November 2024
      • October 2024
      • September 2024
      • August 2024
      • July 2024
      • June 2024
      • May 2024
      • April 2024
      • March 2024
      • February 2024
      • January 2024
      • December 2023
      • February 2023
      • January 2023
      • December 2022
      • November 2022
      • October 2022
      • September 2022
      • August 2022
      • July 2022
      • June 2022
      • May 2022
      • April 2022
      • March 2022
      • February 2022
      • January 2022
      • December 2021
      • November 2021
      • October 2021
      • September 2021
      • August 2021
      • July 2021
      • June 2021
      • May 2021
      • April 2021
      • March 2021
      • February 2021
      • January 2021
      • December 2020
      • November 2020
      • October 2020
      • September 2020
      • August 2020
      • July 2020
      • June 2020
      • May 2020
      • April 2020
      • March 2020
      • February 2020
      • January 2020
      • December 2019
      • November 2019
      • October 2019
      • September 2019
      • August 2019
      • July 2019
      • June 2019
      • May 2019
      • April 2019
      • March 2019
      • February 2019
      • January 2019
      • December 2018
      • November 2018
      • October 2018
      • September 2018
      • August 2018
      • July 2018
      • June 2018
      • May 2018
      • April 2018
      • March 2018
      • February 2018
      • January 2018
      • December 2017
    • Global Property and Asset Mangement, Inc.
      137 North Larchmont
      Los Angeles, California 90010
      +1 213-427-1127

    © 2025 GPAM