OBIT Miguel Toruno

Miguel Toruño
CEO DressCodeRules.com, Inc. & Attorney
San Francisco Bay Area
Legal Services





Current
Dress Code Rules



Previous
Theater for the New City,
U.S. House of Representatives,
Inter-American Development Bank



Education
St. John's University School of Law



Websites
Company Website



396 connections


View Miguel Toruño’s


Your colleagues, classmates, and 500 million other professionals are on LinkedIn.


View Miguel’s Full Profile


Miguel Toruño’s Posts & Activity


Experience



Founder & CEO Dress Code Rules June 2015 – Present (2 years 10 months) Own and manage DressCodeRules.com, the Internet’s only centralized dress code authority. Manage vendor relations, advertising (including SEO and traffic generation), compliance, investor relations and talent search for core operations of the DCR. Administer company finances and devise business development strategy. Build out retail clothing search engine.



Playwright Theater for the New City August 2017 – August 2017 (1 month)Greater New York City Area Authored a play produced Off-Broadway at Theater for the New City. Please see www.katietheplay.com for description, video, photos and more. Additional run in San Francisco I


Senior Counsel U.S. House of Representatives July 2011 – June 2015 (4 years)Washington D.C. Metro Area Attorney for Committee on Ethics. Conducted oversight investigations into allegations of misconduct by Members and staff of the House of Representatives. Duties included acting as investigative counsel in assigned matters, receiving sworn testimony, gathering evidence, performing legal analysis of issues related to investigations, and making recommendations to the Committee on matters under its jurisdiction. Areas of concentration included official use of Federal funds, constitutional law, employment law, tax law, campaign finance regulation, and corporate governance. Reviewed financial disclosure statements of Members of Congress and senior staff, answering legal enquiries on how to comply with financial disclosure requirements. Trained House staff on ethics rules, financial disclosure requirements and other policies governing official conduct.



Senior Integrity Officer Inter-American Development Bank January 2005 – July 2011 (6 years 7 months)Washington D.C. Metro Area (Integrity Officer: January 2005 – November 2008) In Office of Institutional Integrity, conducted bank oversight, enforcing anti-corruption policies. Focused on procurement, legal, and ethics matters. Led team missions to a variety of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Duties included interviewing parties to conflicts, meeting with government officials, obtaining and analyzing relevant legal documents, and determining merit of cases. Enforced sanctions on entities found to be in violation of bank’s anti-corruption policies. Provided training to staff, government officials and civil organizations on bank’s anti-corruption initiatives. Collaborated extensively with other bank departments such as Human Resources, Information Technology, and Procurement, and Office of General Counsel.



Assistant District Attorney New York County District Attorney's Office 1998 – 2004 (6 years)Greater New York City Area Investigated and prosecuted criminal cases from arrest to sentencing. Duties included issuance of indictments, complaints, motions, search warrants, arrest warrants, and subpoenas. Conducted more than twenty jury trials involving an array of crimes, including assault, drug trafficking, larceny, fraud and homicide. Litigated numerous pre-trial issues requiring research of legal principles and performance of suppression hearings. Member of the District Attorney hiring board.


Education



St. John's University School of Law JD, Law 1995 – 1998





University of California, Berkeley Bachelor of Arts (BA), Political Science 1988 – 1993


Skills
Corporate Law
Litigation
Civil Litigation
Legal Writing
International Law
Latin America
Securities Regulation
Criminal Law
Corporate Governance
Commercial Litigation
Legal Research
Policy Analysis
Internal Investigations
Administrative Law
Arbitration
Courts


How's this translation?
Great
•
Has errors


Publications
West Coast production of "Katie," by Miguel Toruño. San Francisco, Oct. 2017.
Miguel Toruño
October 2017
Authors:
Miguel Toruño
Playwright
Theater for the New City
August 2017
West Coast Production of "Katie" by Miguel Toruno
Authors:
Miguel Toruño
Featured in Guru Spotlight
Authors:
Miguel Toruño
Let's Have a More Focused Discussion about Dress Codes
Authors:
Miguel Toruño



From <https://www.linkedin.com/in/migueltoruno?trk=org-employees_mini-profile_cta>

Read More

Obit: Daniel L. Brenner L.A. County judge killed while crossing the street in Pico-Robertson

A Los Angeles County judge who also was a recognized expert in communications law was killed Monday when he was struck by a vehicle while crossing a West L.A. street, police said.

The judge, identified as Daniel L. Brenner by a court spokeswoman, was walking across Beverwil Drive near Pico Boulevard about 6 p.m. when a driver heading north struck him, said Los Angeles police Officer Tony Im.

---

---

The driver remained at the scene and is not under a criminal investigation, Im said. Brenner was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was 64.

Brenner was not using the crosswalk, LAPD Sgt. Benjamin Zucker said.

"He was a brilliant judge and lawyer and a beloved friend to many," said Judge Carolyn Kuhl, the presiding judge of the L.A. County Superior Court. "His death is a terrible loss for his family and the court."

Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Brenner to the bench in 2012, and the jurist had most recently heard civil matters in the Chatsworth Courthouse, according to court spokeswoman Mary Hearn.

At the time of his appointment, Brenner had been a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Hogan Lovells LLP after spending about 17 years as the vice president of the regulatory department at the National Cable and Telecommunications Assn., an industry group.

Brenner had previously served as a top advisor to the chair of the Federal Communications Commission.

"Dan's insightful knowledge of telecommunications law made him a formidable force in public policy during his years leading the legal department at NCTA," said Michael Powell, president and CEO of the cable and telecom group.

"A prominent and distinguished member of the federal communications bar, Dan was a key staffer and advisor to two FCC chairmen during a time of immense change," he added.

Many praised Brenner for his sharp legal mind as well as his comedic talent.

For several years, Brenner performed stand-up comedy in clubs across the country and even taught a comedy course at UCLA Extension. He told The Times in 1991 that lawyers and comedians faced similar tasks: using language to be persuasive.

Brenner had earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University, and he graduated from Stanford Law School. Following law school, he was a clerk for U.S. District Court Judge William Byrne Jr.

During his career, Brenner wrote two legal textbooks and served as an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University Law Center, Washington College of Law at American University and Cardozo Law School. He previously served as a faculty member at UCLA's law school and was a lecturer at USC's Gould School of Law, according to his USC biography

Read More

OBIT:ANDREA HUSEBY

Andrea's Obituary

ANDREA HUSEBY The family of Andrea Huseby sadly announces her passing on February 8, 2002 at the age of 32, from injuries resulting from a car accident. She and her husband Chris were on their way to the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games. Andrea was a resident of Danville, where she had lived for six years with her husband. Andrea was born in Hayward, grew up in Niles, and was a life-long Bay Area native. In 1995 she joined Irwin Home Equity in San Ramon where she went on to develop and head the telecommunications department for many years. Last August she left to pursue the study of classic Mediterranean art, archaeology, and history at the University of California, Berkeley. She was a junior and expected to graduate next year. She loved the ocean, collecting antiques, and adventuring around the world. Her gentle manner and warm smile and laughter will be greatly missed by her devoted husband J. Christopher Huseby, her loving parents Geraldine and Paul Wright of Brentwood, her sisters and their spouses, Jamie and Peter DeLucchi of Castro Valley, and Stephanie and Scott Carstairs of Brentwood, her brothers and their spouses, Robert and Diane Wright of Brentwood, and Jon and Sue Wright of Modesto, her youngest brother Peter Wright of San Ramon, her Grandfather Mike Long of Salt Lake City, her nieces and nephews Kyle, Chase, Taylor, Scott, Morgan, Logan, Ciara, and Shelby, and Aunts and Uncles. A memorial celebration of Andrea's wonderful life will be held at The Church on the Hill, 20801 San Ramon Valley Blvd., San Ramon, Ca, 94583. on Saturday, February 16 at 11:00 am with a Luncheon reception immediately following the service. Internment will be private and the family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Andrea Huseby Scholarship Fund, Attention: Debbie Whiteman, The Irwin Home Equity Foundation, 12677 Alcosta Blvd., Suite 500, San Ramon, CA, 94583. The Andrea Huseby Scholarship is chartered to help working adults return to school to complete their academic studies.

Read Less ›

Read More

Obit: The Clare Orton Murder and Orton Development

WALNUT CREEK — Two promising students — one a freshman at San Diego State and the other who studied engineering at Stanford University — died Tuesday in what police said looked like a murder-suicide in a home just north of Ygnacio Valley Road.

Clare Orton, a 19-year-old majoring in environmental engineering in San Diego, was found dead in her parents’ Walnut Creek home off Homestead Avenue. Also there was the body of Scott Bertics, a 21-year-old Lafayette resident who had attended Stanford.

Police called to the neighborhood around 6:50 a.m. said they found the two dead from gunshot wounds inside a home on Holton Court.

The two knew each other and had dated, police said.

She had graduated from Las Lomas High School in 2014 and he from Acalanes in Lafayette in 2012. Both were interested in engineering and both were long distance runners on the track teams at their high schools.

Orton’s family lived in the home for more than 10 years, said neighbor Linda Darnsteadt.

The “very pleasant” college student was visiting her home for the summer break from San Diego State, where she had completed her first year, Darnsteadt said.

“I’m just so sad. That’s so tragic,” she said.

Darnsteadt and her husband Gary said that they did not hear gunshots.

“We knew something tragic had happened, but we didn’t know what,” Linda Darnsteadt said. Police cars filled the cul-de-sac until noonOrton was an honors student at San Diego State, according to a school merit page. Her Facebook page includes a reference to membership in the Society of Women Engineers at San Diego State and to the Eco-Action Club at Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek.

For a photo of a rainbow posted on her Facebook page, she wrote, “When the sunrise is underwhelming, turn around, you may see a double rainbow.”

Bertics was on leave of absence from Stanford and last attended the school in the fall of 2014, a school spokesman said.

Stanford’s website lists Bertics as a member of a team that in 2013 worked on project called “Controlling Robot Dynamics with Spiking Neurons.” He is also credited in a 2014 paper by some of the same team members for developing the driver interface in a project titled: “Controlling Articulated Robots in Task-Space with Spiking Silicon Neurons.”

A 2011 Github entry shows his pleasure at winning an animation code award. “I wrote this program during the summer quarter in 2011 and it won the Stanford CS106A graphics contest!”

Bertics also had a YouTube channel called “sbertics” on which he put videos of his projects, but the newest videos were of glider flights over Oahu in Hawaii. His electronic device videos were three years old.

Walnut Creek police would like to hear from anyone who might have information about what happened. They can be reached at 925-943-5844.

Read More

OBIT: Bennett Witness Murdered - Robert Frazier

CONCORD — A Concord man shot to death in front of a bar early Saturday has been identified as 42-year-old Robert Frazier, authorities said Monday.

From the blogger: There are three dead bouncers each known to me, one was an assailant, one was nice guy, another was nice that was friendly with Sara Hoda killed in The GhostShip Fire.

Related Articles

The Contra Costa Bar Association - Throwing you under the bus via the Insiders Litigation Network  

Attempted Murder Walnut Creek CA 
Another Dead Witness in Bennett's long saga of witness murders

Frazier became the city’s second homicide victim of 2017 when he was hit by gunfire in front of Nica Lounge at 1907 Salvio Street just before 2 a.m. Saturday, police said. Police arrested a man suspected in the shooting after he was involved in a solo car crash later Saturday.

Lt. James Nakayama, the head of investigations for the Concord Police Department, said details of the investigation have kept police from identifying the suspect, a 27-year-old man who was still in a hospital Monday receiving treatment for non-life threatening injuries.

The hunt for the shooter also led to police fatally shooting a pit bull while they searched an Oakley address for the suspect. According to police, a pit bull broke loose from his collar and charged officers and the police dog named Hancock. The pit bull bit Hancock in the leg and clamped down on his neck, causing the officer to shoot, police said.

“It’s unfortunate that that happened,” Nakayama said. “We have to protect our police K9s and officers, as well.”

Police ordered a shelter-in-place during that Oakley neighborhood search in the 1900 block of Teresa Lane. Police used a SWAT team to help them in the search.

A fundraising account set up to help Frazier’s family raised $3,855 by 2 p.m., with one poster saying that Frazier “enriched my life with friendship and love.”

Staff writer George Kelly contributed to this report. Contact Rick Hurd at 925-945-4789.

Read More

Obit: Murder: James Gilliland

This brazen murder occurred when a prominent attorney with Kilpatrick, Townsend and Stockton was murdered in El Cerrito CA as he exited his car in his driveway. 
Few take to time to look past the shooting with another ho hum. 

Your Elected Officials

They have been well informed, expert stonewallers and next election vote getters.

There are a few good ones. 
Congressman DeSaulnier

Are we Staring at Racketeering


Complex events often trips up public officials, police officers and suppliers who underestimate the risks of crossing the line between favor, snippet of information, accepting a gift like a big house in Las Vegas or 
-->The Perjury Conviction of DA Mark Peterson who dipped into to his campaign honey jar after he ignored my pleas about arson and attempted murder.
The murder of attorney James Gilliland wouldn't RICO unless it was related to clients like Sony, Oracle, Apple, Levi Strauss and Co., I am worried because they were my clients.



-->

Related

Dead Witnessess

Dead Bankers

Dead Attorneys

Dead Officers

-->

Bootstrap

Image Manager

Images

The Perjury Conviction of DA Mark Peterson

Related Tags

Dead Witnesses

Dead Bankers

Dead Attorneys

Dead Officers

Read More

OBIT: Roland Haydell III a/k/a Kieth Richards - vanished Dec. 2013.

There are two stories in this posting.  One is about several homeless that have died, disappeared or ended up in jail.  The other is about Real Estate Investment Trusts linked to the UC Regents with two notable investors Richard Blum and George Marcus.  

For now scan this video.  As far I know Keith is dead.    

Read More

OBIT: Mark Coon - Former City Attorney for Concord CA

Read More

Rep. Ellen Tauscher

Tauscher choice for key Obama post

By Mike Taugher
Contra Costa Times

POSTED:   03/17/2009 08:20:04 PM PDT | UPDATED:   7 YEARS AGO

Note: Contra Costa Times reporter Michael Taugher left BANG to Dept. of Fish and Game as PIO, he drowns and this same club lead to State Senator Don Perata daughter in-law drowned months apart and near President Obama there is the death of Ashley Turton but near Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton is Ambassador Stevens death in Benghazi.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher, of Alamo, is the Obama administration's pick for a key State Department post for arms control issues.

Tauscher is regarded as one of the most knowledgeable members of Congress on the nation's nuclear arsenal and a moderate who walks a fine line to balance support for nuclear weapons research at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, which is in her district, and the demands of peace activists.

"There is some skepticism among the nuclear control and disarmament community," said Christopher Paine, nuclear program director for the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council.

Paine nonetheless called the pick a good one.

"Certainly, she has the potential to do a terrific job," Paine said.

Tauscher has not been vetted for the job, a process that can take weeks or months. The position also requires Senate confirmation. If Tauscher is appointed, a special election would be held to replace her for the rest of her two-year term ending January 2011.

The choice of Tauscher was first reported by The Associated Press. Congressional sources confirmed the AP's story for MediaNews.

If confirmed as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, Tauscher would serve as a senior adviser on arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament issues to the president and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom Tauscher supported in last year's Democratic presidential primaries.

Advertisement

Experts said that among the tasks Tauscher would take on would be working with Russia to reduce nuclear stockpiles in the two countries, dealing with countries who might be seeking nuclear power and trying to limit small arms markets around the world.

The highest profile arms control challenges — Iran and North Korea, for example — would more likely be dealt with within the White House between President Barack Obama and the National Security Council, said Steven Weber, director of UC Berkeley's Institute of International Studies.

"There's some other issues we don't want to forget about," Weber said.

Developing a coherent approach to nations that are seeking nuclear power — and that therefore could eventually develop nuclear weapons — could be a key task facing the next undersecretary, Weber said.

"It's wrong to say you can wall off military uses for nuclear power," he said. "It's going to be managing the process inside the government and coming up with a coherent position for the government."

Tauscher, 57, was first elected to Congress in 1996 after an upset of two-term Republican incumbent Bill Baker. Tauscher, a wealthy former investment banker, spent $1.7 million of her own money on the election.

The chairman of a coalition of centrist congressional Democrats, Tauscher has remained moderate on political issues, occasionally angering more liberal members of her party.

Tauscher chairs the strategic forces subcommittee, which oversees the nation's nuclear weapons.

"She knows the U.S. nuclear arsenal better than probably any other member of Congress at this point," said Stephen Young, a senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "She doesn't have as much background on arms control as other candidates, but I expect her to be a quick study."

Some activists remain unsatisfied with Tauscher's stances on issues ranging from the war in Iraq to bankruptcy reform and have called in recent years for someone to challenge her in a Democratic primary election.

She was challenged in last year's general election by Republican Nicholas Gerber of Moraga, who got 31.1 percent of the vote.

The 10th District includes much of eastern and central Contra Costa County as well as Livermore in Alameda County; Dixon, Fairfield, Suisun City and Elmira in Solano County; and Isleton and Walnut Grove in Sacramento County. The most recent voter-registration reports show the district is about 47 percent Democrat, 29 percent Republican and 20 percent decline-to-state.

Staff writer Josh Richman contributed to this story.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher

Residence: Alamo

Education: B.A., Seton Hall University, 1973

Background: Wall Street investment banker, 1974-1988; founder and CEO of Child Care Registry, 1992-1996

First Elected: 1996, beating two-term incumbent Bill Baker

Leadership positions: Chairwoman, Strategic Forces Subcommittee of House Armed Services Committee; chairwoman, New Democrat Coalition, a group of centrist congressional Democrats.

Read More

OBIT: Matthew Miller Ratliff '80 - Pete's best friend commits suicide -- no warning?

The Playtex Connected Suicide

Pete Bennett's relocated to Mountain Lakes NJ. Back in 1968 the Vietnam war was developing into a national issue. My next door neighbor Matt Ratliff became my best friend along with his family we all got along.

Then the goodfellows at the AFL-CIO a division Contra Costa Politics

Matthew M. Ratliff

Matthew Miller Ratliff '80, a longtime resident of Vero Beach, FL, was born on February 14, 1958. The youngest son of Dale Ratliff, a corporation executive vice president, and the former Bettie C. Messer, an antiques dealer, Matt Ratliff grew up in Mountain Lakes, NJ, where he was graduated from Mountain Lakes High School in 1975. He entered Hamilton that year and, interested in radio broadcasting, became a disc jockey for campus radio station WHCL. He also served as a staff photographer for The Spectator and was an ultimate-frisbee enthusiast. His interest in filmmaking led him to take several courses in that field. Having majored in sociology, he was awarded his diploma in 1980.

Matt Ratliff returned to New Jersey but later settled in Vero Beach, where he held a series of property caretaking jobs. He also conducted an antiques and collectibles resale business on the side. He was a dedicated sports fisherman and scuba diver, and an avid beachcomber.

Matthew M. Ratliff, who had returned to New Jersey just last year, died on March 20, 2008, in Montclair. Unmarried, he is survived by two brothers, Mitch and Mark Ratliff, and a sister, Lynn Hove, as well as nieces and nephews.

My best friend, my nephews, Girl Friend and Daughter, my former employee and his wife, a neighbor in Danville CA, my Roommate, My Attorneys Son, City Clerk from San Ramon and local Contra Costa Board of Realtors and the band played.

---

The Max Factor Connection

Max Factor & Company, the cosmetics concern, has turned to Revlon, its high‐class competitor, for its new president and chief executive officer. It named Dale Ratliff, one of Revlon's ranking sales executives, to succeed Sam Kalish, who resigned as Max Factor's top executive last July 1.

Mr. Ratliff, 47, executive vice president of sales for the Revlon domestic cosmetics and fragrances division, will assume his new title at the $350 million company on Jan. 1 and will report to Timm Crull, president and chief operating officer at Norton Simon Inc., Max Factor's parent company.

Max Factor has seen its operating profits decline dramatically over the last year. Its cosmetics and fashion division (which includes Halston fashions and the McCall Pattern Company) had pretax profits of $34.1 million for the year ended June 30, 1977. Just 12 months later that figure had slipped to $12.6 million.

A sore spot has been Its domestic cosmetics division, greatly weakened by last year's disastrous introduction of the fragrance “Just Call Me Maxi.” David Mahoney, chairman of Norton Simon, said at the annual meeting this month that the company had withdrawn funds from its basic cosmetics lines to support the “Just Call Me Maxi” introduction and found these regular lines suffered in the process.

“Ratliff is a good choice,” said one industry expert. “He knows sales and he knows the domestic cosmetics market. But he has little marketing background.” (Mr. Ratliff has been a group president at the B.V.D. Company and senior vice president and general manager of the apparel division at International Playtex.)

Just last week a cosmetics marketing executive was named to a senior post at Norton Simon. Robert Kamerschen will resign his position as president of Chanel Inc. to become senior vice president and assistant to Mr. Crull in December. Mr. Ratliff and Mr. Kamerschen worked together at Revlon.

Meanwhile, Sam Kalish, whose resignation was announced last May 30, remains on the Norton Simon payroll as a consultant. His annual salary as president of Max Factor was $190.000.

Then the goodfellows at the AFL-CIO a division Contra Costa Politics

Memorial services will be held Saturday in Mountain Lake, N.J., for Dale Ratliff, president of Max Factor & Company, who died last Saturday in Los Angeles of a heart attack.

Mr. Ratliff, 47 years old, joined Max Factor in January following six years as executive vice president of the domestic cosmetics and fragrances division of Revlon Inc. Previously, he had been group vice president with the BVD Company Inc. and had also served as senior vice president and general manager of the apparel division at International Playtex Inc.

Born in Hinton, W. Va., Mr. Ratliff was a graduate of Duke University. He served in the Marine Corps, attaining the rank of captain.

Mr. Ratliff is survived by his wife, the former Bettie Messer; three sons, Mitchell, Mark and Matthew; a daughter, Lynn, and his mother, Augusta J. Ratliff. The memorial services will be held at P.M. at the Community Church in Mountain Lake.

Read More

Obit: Fang v. Bennett (2000)

How killer cased victim's home

Jim Herron Zamora, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
Published 4:00 am, Saturday, January 8, 2000


MARTINEZ - Mesa Kasem, who died Tuesday in a failed home robbery invasion, first visited the targeted Alamo home in November while delivering an item the doctor's family had purchased at an auction.

Kasem, who was employed at the time as a deliveryman and laborer for Somerset Auction Co.in Santa Clara, dropped off the item at the home of Kim and Winnie Fang, two well-known East Bay doctors, on Nov. 10. The item, which police would not identify, had been purchased by the Fangs three days earlier, investigators said.

Detectives now believe that after visiting the Fang home, Kasem decided to return and rob it.

"He must have seen something there that he liked," Capt. George Lawrence of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department said Friday of Kasem's Nov. 10 visit to the Fang residence.

On Tuesday night, Kasem, 22, returned to Alamo allegedly with fellow Stockton gang member Soknoeun Nem, driving a car they rented in Stockton and carrying a semiautomatic handgun police believe they stole in another robbery on Monday. Lawrence said they burst into the Fang home intent on robbery, but instead encountered fierce resistance from the well-armed doctor and his family.

In the fight and shootout that followed, Kasem and Kim Fang,

49, were killed. Nem, 21, and Winnie Fang, 45, were wounded. Nem was also beaten by family members. The family's nanny, Melee Jung, suffered head injuries when she was pistol-whipped.

Sheriff's deputies say that Kasem and Nem acted alone. "We believe there were no other accomplices," Lawrence said.

But investigators are combing the records of the Somerset Auction Co. to determine if any other homes Kasem visited as a deliveryman have been robbed or burglarized. They do not believe the men committed any other crimes in Contra Costa County, but Lawrence said that his department will send out a Teletype on the case to every law enforcement agency in the state.

Reviewing unsolved crimes

Stockton police also said Friday they were trying to determine whether Nem and Kasem are linked to any unsolved crimes in that city. Police confirmed that they were reviewing unsolved robberies and burglaries.

Police said Kasem may have taken part in a home invasion robbery Monday in Stockton of a family that purchased goods through Somerset auctions years ago. One of two 9mm handguns that investigators say was used in the Alamo robbery attempt Tuesday was stolen during that robbery, but police said it didn't appear that Kasem

ever visited the Stockton home in the course of his employment at the auction house.

Stockton resident Kim Chau told the Stockton Record she believes Kasem was among four masked men who robbed her Monday. She said the men left her home with the 9mm pistol and a .22-caliber weapon, her gold necklace, a ring, a diamond pendant and children's jewelry. They also took about $3,200 in cash, she said. She said investigators told her that Kasem probably targeted her through purchase records kept at Somerset Auctions.

Somerset Auctions was closed Friday and no one from the company could be reached for comment. Officer Doug Anderson, spokesman for the Stockton Police Department, confirmed Friday that Kasem and Nem were considered suspects in the Chau robbery, but declined further comment.

Chau said she and her husband attend many auctions in many cities, and went to Somerset Auctions in Santa Clara several years ago.

Paroled felon

Kasem, a paroled felon who was nearly deported back to his native Cambodia last year, worked at the auction house from the beginning of November until just before Christmas. He left the job without notice during the holidays. At the time he was staying with his girlfriend in the South Bay but fre

quently visited his old North Stockton neighborhood on weekends, investigators said. Investigators believe that is where he linked up with Nem, who is also a Cambodian native.

Stockton police said Kasem had four felony arrests dating back to 1994. He had been arrested at least twice for felonies involving firearms. But Anderson, of the Stockton Police Department, declined to give details, saying that most of the arrests occurred when Kasem was a juvenile.

Lawrence said that investigators "may never know" the exact sequence of events during the shootout at the Fang home Tuesday. Investigators were hoping to interview Winnie Fang to hear her side of the incident. Winnie Fang, an anesthesiologist, has been released from the hospital after treatment for her gunshot wound.

"It is still unclear who shot first (and) who fired the fatal shots into Dr. Fang," Lawrence said.

The two men forced their way into the house after Winnie Fang opened the door to see who was outside. She resisted. Her husband, who was working upstairs, came downstairs with a .38-caliber handgun and opened fire on the intruders, apparently hitting Kasem three times - in the temple, chest and upper thigh, Lawrence said.

In the exchange, Kim Fang was shot twice in the back. Both

rounds exited his chest. He died at the scene. Lawrence said it was not clear if Fang was retreating from the gunmen or if one of the robbers surprised him from behind.

Nem was being held without bail at the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez on Friday pending charges. Deputy District Attorney Harold Jewett said his office may charge him with murder for Fang's death as early as next week. He said Nem may also be charged for Kasem's murder under California's "provocative act" law. That law allows someone who participated in a violent felony that left an accomplice dead to be charged with the murder of the deceased criminal.

Nem will likely be charged with one or more counts of attempted robbery, as well, he said.

Jewett said that Nem is currently being held on a parole violation to give prosecutors and investigators more time to build their case. <

Read More

OBIT: Mark Coon Obituary February 19, 1960 - October 6, 2015

Mark Coon Obituary

Mark S. CoonFebruary 19, 1960 - October 6, 2015
Resident of Walnut Creek


Mark Stephen Coon, age 55, tragically and unexpectedly passed away on October 6, 2015 in Walnut Creek, California. Born on February 19, 1960 in New Zealand, he lived in England in his early years before moving to the States.

Mark leaves behind his beloved wife, June Bashant, two children (ages 13 and 11), brother Jeremy (Wendy), stepmother (Sherri), mother-in-law Patricia, sister-in-law Dawn (Eric), loving nieces and nephews, and countless friends and colleagues who were blessed to know him. He is predeceased by his father Michael and younger brother Sasha.

Mark was the City Attorney for the City of Concord, California. He received his bachelor's degree from UCLA, then his J.D. from Hastings College of the Law in 1986. He started his legal career at Carroll Burdick & McDonough, then joined Archer McComas & Lageson (now Archer Norris) in 1993, where he met and married his wife. He joined the Concord City Attorney's Office in 2002, where he was later promoted to the position of City Attorney of Concord. While there, he established an "Open Door" Policy with the public and City staff, making himself directly accessible to all.

Always the consummate gentleman, Mark was a gentle spirit with the highest of integrity. He loved his family above all. As an attorney, his clients were grateful for his intellect, legal expertise, graciousness, and kind demeanor. Mark was truly a friend to everyone.

Mark enjoyed backpacking with his friends, swimming, cycling, kayaking, and surfing.

A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, October 12, 2015 at St. Perpetua Catholic Church, 3454 Hamlin Road, Lafayette. Arrangements are in the care of Hull's Walnut Creek Chapel. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any contributions be made to an educational fund for the benefit of Mark and June's children, payable to June P. Bashant, and mailed to the Rouda, Feder, Tietjen, McGuinn Law Firm, 44 Montgomery St, Suite 4000, SF, CA 94104, attention Cheree Gonzalez.

Published in San Francisco Chronicle on Oct. 10, 2015

Read Less

Read More

#deadwitness One Dead PIMCO Banker is one too many

A Dead Banker was a PIMCO Banker

source:LA TIMES

Harvard Business Classes

Domestic Terrorism vs Insider Terrorism ~ Rapid Free-Falling quantitive analytics, depth of field analytics, opitcal illusions, deception and obstruction of justice, interference of investigation and placing children as your prop.

SEC Nipping at Problem

A federal investigation of Pacific Investment Management Co. is the latest crack in the armor of the $2-trillion Newport Beach fund giant, where a trustee recently questioned the $200-million salary, "bullying" behavior and "mediocre" recent performance of co-founder Bill Gross.

Word of the Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry follows a series of setbacks for Pimco, including the abrupt departure of Gross' heir apparent, Mohamed El-Erian, reports of clashes between the two and an outflow of more than $65 billion in investors' money from Gross' signature Total Return Fund.

dd Pimco said it is cooperating with the SEC, which is examining whether Pimco improperly inflated the price of bond holdings in an exchange traded fund. That could have increased the publicly reported value of the fund, which Gross personally managed.

The ETF, as such funds are known, was set up to mirror the investment style of Gross' Total Return Fund, which serves giant institutional investors. The Total Return Fund, which has $221 billion in assets, is the world's largest bond mutual fund and a staple of 401(k) and other retirement plans across the nation. The $3.6-billion Total Return Fund ETF reported investment gains of 8.7% from March through August 2012, its first six months of existence. That compared with a gain of 5.2% for the Total Return Fund it emulated, which at the time was growing rapidly and exceeded $270 billion in assets.

The Newport Beach company, which Gross co-founded in 1971, denied any wrongdoing.

"We take our regulatory obligations and responsibilities to our clients very seriously," the firm said in a statement. "We believe our pricing procedures are entirely appropriate and in keeping with industry best practices."

Pimco declined to comment further on the SEC investigation. A spokesman for the SEC in Washington declined to comment.

A person close to the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is confidential, told The Times that investigators from several SEC offices around the country have been working on the case.

The investigation was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which quoted unidentified sources as saying the SEC has been looking at the case for at least a year. Investigators have recently interviewed Pimco executives, and spent more than a day questioning the 70-year-old Gross.

The disclosure of the investigation follows other turmoil at Pimco. In a March interview with The Times, a longtime independent trustee on the board that oversees Pimco, William J. Popejoy, publicly criticized Gross — specifically his high pay, amid the fund's declining performance.

That followed high-profile clashes between Gross and El-Erian, including allegations that Gross had monitored El-Erian's phone calls.

A midsummer Pimco regulatory filing said Popejoy had resigned from the board. Popejoy's attorney said that was inaccurate but declined to elaborate on Popejoy's version of events.

Independent bond fund trustees such as Popejoy don't work for money management firms like Pimco; their job is to oversee the funds, monitoring performance on behalf of investors and negotiating the fees paid to the fund managers.

They generally work far from public scrutiny, and a bond fund trustee criticizing an asset manager, as Popejoy did, is "extremely rare," said Eric Jacobson, director of fixed-income research at fund tracker Morningstar Inc. "I cannot remember seeing anything like this in the last 10 to 15 years."

Popejoy has since declined to speak publicly about Gross and the proceedings of the board of trustees, citing the advice of attorneys. In a recent interview, he did say he had differences with the board chairman, Brent R. Harris, a Pimco managing director who is one of two insiders on the seven-man board.

One disagreement centered on the lack of diversity on the board, which is made up entirely of white men, Popejoy said.

He said that when the independent trustee Vern O. Curtis, 80, decided to step down, Harris wanted the replacement to be Peter B. McCarthy, a former banker and U.S. Treasury official. McCarthy already sits on the board that oversees Pimco's small collection of stock mutual funds.

Popejoy said he instead lobbied to add a female or minority member to the board.

Harris did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Pimco Funds have yet to replace Popejoy or Curtis.

The SEC probe focused on whether Gross' ETF fund misled investors through such actions as buying bonds at a discount, then putting a higher value on them when reporting fund results, the Journal reported. Doing so would increase the reported net asset value of the funds.

The SEC has conducted a series of investigations of such pricing issues at mutual funds, and in some cases has brought civil charges. In 2012, UBS Global Asset Management paid $300,000 to settle accusations that it improperly priced securities in three mutual funds.

Such cases, however, can be complicated to sort out. Investigations often find no violations, said Michael Herbst, a Morningstar director of manager research.

Exchange-traded funds often do better, at least at first, than the large funds they emulate. The smaller ETFs are "nimble" and can negotiate discounts and turn quick profits on deals too small for the large funds to pursue, he said.

A powerful bond ETF like the one headed by Gross, for example, might often be able to find small, thinly traded holdings of certain corporate bonds or exotic mortgage securities that could be purchased at a sharp discount.

If an independent valuation firm, such as Interactive Data or Thompson Reuters, was unable to find a recent sale of identical securities, as often occurs, it would then estimate the value for the holdings based on recent sales of similar bonds, Herbst said. That could yield a higher value.

If the mutual fund accurately reported the purchase price, along with the independent valuation, the SEC would probably find no violation, Herbst said. Any violations of securities laws would stem from the mutual fund lying about the purchase price or the independently estimated value.

Read More

OBIT: The Man Who Helped Expose One Of The Biggest Controversies In Silicon Valley Was Shot Dead In December

y Google Steve Jobs 

The Man Who Helped Expose One Of The Biggest Controversies In Silicon Valley Was Shot Dead In December

• LISA EADICICCO
 

• APR. 21, 2014, 1:00 PM
• 38,764
 
• 24

• FACEBOOK
• LINKEDIN
• TWITTER
• GOOGLE+
• PRINT
• EMAIL

Twitter/Santa Clara County SheriffPolice yellow tape cordons off the scene of the shooting at Roku.

The world's biggest tech companies are currently dealing with a class-action lawsuit thataccuses them of colluding to keep employees' wages down. 

The companies — Apple, Google, Adobe, etc. — were accused of having no-poaching agreements so they wouldn't hire each others' employees. The case could be settled for anywhere between $3 billion and $9 billion this week.

When the case is finalized, employees of companies could be rewarded with thousands of dollars in compensation.

However, one person is going to miss out on his chance to collect the money. Brandon Marshall, "who helped set in motion a class-action lawsuit against the companies," according to The New York Times, died last December when he was shot by a sheriff's deputy. 

In all of the stories about the alleged collusion case, the story of Marshall has barely gotten any mention in the press.

Marshall worked at Adobe for six months, which is how he was attached to the lawsuit. He is one of the five plaintiffs mentioned in the case.

He had been working for TV streaming company Roku at their offices in Saratoga before he died. Dell employee Kent Squarcia, who was in a meeting with Marshall and another Roku employee, witnessed the shooting, according to The San Jose Mercury News. 

During the meeting, Marshall had called his father to come pick him up because he said he was having a problem. Then, Marshall had opened a bottle of what appeared to be prescription medicine and consumed five or six pills. 

"He chewed them like they were Pez," Squarcia told The San Jose Mercury News.

Marshall then went to the lobby, laid on the floor and began to consume more pills. Someone in the office called 911 since it seemed like Marshall was attempting to overdose. Squacira, however, didn't get that impression.

"I didn't get the feeling he was trying to kill himself," he said to the San Jose-based publication. "I felt like something in his mind was broken and he was trying to fix it. I'll stick by that until the day I die."

Squarcia also said that he didn't feel like Marshall was a threat to anyone in the office, but just said that he seemed disoriented because of his medicine.

Marshall ran to the parking lot where paramedics soon arrived, Squarcia said to The San Jose Mercury News. Deputies told the publication that Marshall "suddenly became agitated" and had taken out a five-and-a-half inch metal spike and attacked one of the deputies. The deputy feared for his life and fired his gun, hitting Marshall in the chest. Marshall continued to fight with the officers as they restrained him. He was eventually taken to a nearby hospital where he died.

It's unclear exactly what triggered Marshall's behavior that day, but another key plaintiff suggested that the case may have been a burden. Michael Devine, another class representative who had previously worked at Adobe, said that Marshall had been affected by social media reactions to the case.

"You know how nasty and abusive folks get in online comments," Devine said to The New York Times. "It apparently really hurt him." 

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/brandon-marshall-tech-companies-case-2014-4#ixzz3M1dCXTXf

Related

View details »

Read More