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Thursday, February 26, 2015

What if "Jimmy Hoffa in a Skirt" (Esther Gordilla) has no home?

Borderland Beat by DD
 
Gordillo before a few plastic surgeries
 DD; Quick summary;  Elba Esther Gordillo, the ex President ("for life") of the 1 1/2 million member teachers union, SNTE,  has been in jail since her arrest in Feb. 2013 for tax fraud, money laundering and organized crime.  She is accused of embezzling about $200 million dollars from the teachers union. 

Though she has been charged, she has not been tried nor convicted of a crime.  She is just being detained in prison without bond while awaiting trial. 

Last month a federal judge ruled that Gordillo qualifies under the "Law on The Rights of Older Persons" under which she could be released from prison and held under "house arrest" while she awaits her trial.

There have been no announcements or news reports of her being released prison and placed under house arrest since the January ruling by the federal judge.  Now the question may be which house will she call her home.   Due to the wealth she accumulated during her tenure as head of the teachers union (she claims it is from inheritance and her $6,000 a month salary from the SNTE) she probably has several choices, but her favorite is probably the $10,000,000 dollars mansions in San Diego.

Forbes magazine recently reported on the status of those properties.


 Jailed Former Mexican Labor Leader's $10 Million California Mansions Up For Grabs

Two years after her arrest, Elba Esther Gordillo, a long time union leader and political powerbroker once described by The New York Times as “the most powerful woman in Mexico,” sits in prison in Mexico City waging a fight to be granted the privilege of house arrest for humanitarian reasons. She recently turned 70 years and suffers from a number of illnesses.

Gordillo was arrested on February 26, 2013 at Toluca airport outside Mexico City as she landed on a private jet from San Diego, California where she lived like a queen and spent like a millionaire. Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office accused her of embezzling $200 million in funds from the 1.5 million-member National Union of Education Workers, which she controlled through bribes and perks. She was also charged with money laundering and organized crime.

EPN afraid she is going to kiss him?
Gordillo’s arrest was a shocking event in a country where the rich and powerful mostly go untouched by the law. But the government’s initial bold move against a woman whose influence reached into the highest echelons of power, soon gave way to a  sloppily handled case.


Gordillo’s legal status is essentially the same as when she was detained: charged, but not tried, much less convicted. Her attorneys often appear to have the upper hand filing motion after motion to try to release her.

The lack of a legal resolution in Mexico has affected two luxury properties linked to Gordillo on an exclusive cul-de-sac in Coronado Cays, California. The first property, a 6-bedroom mansion with swimming pool and a boat slip located at 23 Green Tuttle Road, was Gordillo’s second home; the other house at 1 Green Tuttle Road, which was under renovation at the time of her arrest, is believed to have been occupied by one of Gordillo’s daughters.

front view 23 Green Tuttle Rd.
rear view of house with her boat at the dock

According to San Diego county records, the houses were bought by Comercializadora TTS, S.A. de C.V., a Mexican shell corporation owned by Zoila Estela Morales Ochoa, Gordillo’s deceased mother.

The houses, which the Mexican authorities claimed were purchased with embezzled funds, are currently in judicial limbo. While the Mexican government has not taken any actions to seize them, delinquent property taxes are piling up.

The day after Gordillo’s arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided Gordillo’s house. Lauren Mack, ICE spokesperson in San Diego, confirmed that ICE agents executed a search warrant at the request of the Mexican government. “We secured the property meaning it was locked up when we left,” she told me by phone.

One would think that the houses are considered incriminating evidence against Gordillo and that they would be sealed and vacant. “As far as I know, (23 GTR) it’s empty. Don’t know if some one sneaks in at night”, Nick Arthur, General Manager of the Coronado Cays Homeowners Association, told me. As of last month Gordillo had not paid fees to the HOA for at least three years.

There are strong indications, however, that 23 Green Tuttle Road is not empty. According to Erin Siegal McIntyre, an investigative local reporter who recently visited the neighborhood several times, piles of fresh trash bags with empty food wrappings inside built up over three weeks. Electricity and mail delivery have not been interrupted. Lights were on inside and outside the house. The front garden was recently cleaned up with freshly planted flowers.
Mack, the ICE spokesperson, said that the Mexican Attorney General’s Office is the lead agency in the Gordillo investigation with ICE playing an assistant role. “At this point the investigation is still ongoing and that investigation is being worked by our financial fraud unit related to suspected money laundering,” she said. Gordillo has not been charged in the U.S.

County Clerk Jeff Olson said by phone that property taxes where not paid for any of the residences in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and that payments due in December for the cycle 2014-2015 were missed. In California, property taxes are paid twice a year, in December and April.

Records show 23 Green Turtle Road with a defaulted amount in property taxes of $110,956.60, and 1 Green Tuttle Road with $72,296.99.

Record also show that the Coronado Cays Homeowners Association filed a notice of default early last year, reporting that the properties were delinquent in their HOA fees. Last month the HOA released the notice of delinquency for 23 Green Turtle Road with no explanation. Debora M. Zumwalt, attorney for the HOA, declined to comment.

Under California law, state authorities can take possession of properties with the purpose of foreclosure the fifth year following the declaration of tax default.

The web site Zillow estimates 23 Green Tuttle Road’s market price at $5.6 million and 1 GTR at $4.4 million. Neither property is currently on the market.
Esther waiting to see if she can go home.


15 comments:

  1. No doubt she's extremely corrupt and a crook, but the entire ruling class in Mexico is the same.

    She was only arrested by EPN because she supported Calderón in 2006.

    In a country where there's complete impunity for corrupt officials, her arrest, from our perspective, should be viewed as a violation of equal protection - she was arrested for her political actions in 2006. She's a political prisoner!

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    Replies
    1. Oh. shut up with your political prisoner trash! she looks like a monster on that picture, scary looking witch

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  2. ya gotta give it to her; she's got a lot of "MOXIE" for a 70 year old broad that's been anointed President for Life to the Teachers Union! they will have a hard time convicting her because she knows "Too Much" on both political parties and was most likely instrumental in getting everyone elected. She's Lucky she was locked up when all those Young Teachers were murdered or they would be trying to blame her! Actually if she hadn't been locked up they wouldn't have dared to murder all those teachers because
    "Heads Would Roll" had she not been locked up!

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    Replies
    1. It's not moxie, it's greed mixed with impunity.

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  3. The problem with Esther Gordilla's case is that no matter how seriously the Mexican authorities say they're taking it, Esther Gordilla is NOT going to spend more than a few years behind bars (or house arrest), and will soon retire and you can bet she will still have tons of money.

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    Replies
    1. love the old jail pay $1 and go home it does make since.old people r expensvie

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  4. The JOKER is back!! Look at last picture.

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  5. Hang the ugly witch, make it look like suicide. Thieving whore. Help me I'm melting I'm melting...

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  6. Powerful or not, that's Mexico sweetie. California is going to get those homes. She may be this in that in Mexico, in the US you are a taxpayer and criminal. Kiss those properties goodbye. If she get house arrest, Mexico will let her come to the US? If they do, They are nuts. Now the US has to babysit? Let her do house arrest in an old folks home in Mexico! After all that is not an option in US laws. If you're old you simply die in jail.

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  7. Mexico president in crisis is losing support of big business

    http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/feb/25/mexico-president-in-crisis-is-losing-support-of/

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  8. Good job keeping the news rolling BB. I hate to be a spelling Nazi but you misspelled 'Gorilla'. Other than that, it was an awesome news article. LOL.

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  9. She looks quite rough but if her millions were free and clear some of you guys would try snuggling up to her. Eeew!

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  10. ''La ladilla'' esther gordilla, she earned her money opening her legs to the old teacher's union leaders, in her opinion, at first, when she was younger and pretty, now she extorts them new politicians who don't want to be outed as recipients of her tit for tat, because, she UGLY FUGLY

    ReplyDelete

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