Former employee Arraigned Feb. 24

A former employee who worked out of the Culver City office of the county assessor and is at the center of bribery scandal in assessor’s office was arraigned Feb. 24 at the Airport Courthouse in Westchester.

Former county tax appraiser Scott Schenter has alleged that ex- county assessor John Noguez asked him to lower the values of several properties over several years ending in 2011, a claim that the former assessor has denied.

Noguez was arrested Oct. 17, 2012 on several felony counts, including bribery, misappropriation of funds, corruption and conspiracy.

The district attorney’s public integrity unit has accused Noguez of being the mastermind behind an influence peddling scheme that allowed wealthy homeowners to help retire Noguez’ campaign debt from his 2010 campaign in exchange for substantial breaks on their tax bills.

If convicted, Noguez could face more than 30 years in prison.

Schenter, who  resigned after an internal investigation was launched and was later arrested May 30, 2012,  told the Los Angeles Times that he had improperly lowered the taxable values of more than 100 Westside properties during his time at the Culver City satellite at Noguez’ request. The former appraiser claims that Noguez promised him a promotion for lowering certain homeowner tax bills and pressured him and other employees to carry out other alleged illegal acts.

The Culver City office was raided by investigators a week before Schenter’s arrest and removed several items related to the probe.

Schenter has been charged with 60 felony counts, including falsifying records and illegally lowering property values by $172 million. He has pleaded not guilty.