Google Divorce: Judges, Lawyers and Forensic CPAs Laundering Money through Homes Sold in Family Court Cases

The "Google Divorce" attracted every two-bit  crook in California who wanted  to get a piece of the action after  Google founder Sergy Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki separated in 2013. The Google power couple   filed their final divorce papers in 2015  and Silicon Valley lawyers, judges and CPA's were intoxicated by the money that flowed from two Silicon Valley moguls parting ways in  divorce court.

​After 8 years of a marriage, ending with more than an appearance of  infidelity, Brin 's wife , Anne Wojciciki,  may have been more interested in  just getting out of her marriage with Sergy Berin, than worrying if  forensic CPAs properly calculated  her fair share  of community property.

Divorce cases in California have shown an increasing involvement of custody experts, and  forensic accountants , many  of whom appear  willing to lie as a matter of routine  (mostly to get billionaires out of paying child support and equally dividing community property estates) and to do the job our laws expect judges to do.

​In Silicon Valley, divorces are now worth billions and  lawyers like Brad Baugh of  Los Altos, Nat Hales in San Jose, Nancy Perkovich and  Charlotte Keely of  Sacramento, Tom Tuttle of  Orange County and Bob Blevans of Napa, San Francisco, Solano and Contra Costa,   are closely connected to   unscrupulous CPAs , custody experts and others willing to lie in  courts and help one spouse achieve a "Winner Take All " result.

​Baugh and Keeley have been  seen  handing  cash to court clerks,  and judges  , where a Code of Silence has allowed the state's family courts to run rampant with mafia like conduct that is stealing our children's futures and retirement nest egg.

​Investigators have revealed CPAs James Butera, Drew Hunt , Jeff Stagner and Charlie Burak have been working in California divorce cases where they often fail to repot tax fraud , tax evasion and theft , while being highly paid by the litigant engaging in unlawful and criminal  conduct.

Butera, who has had multiple complaints filed with the Board of Accountancy,  recently informed the CBA that he consistently refuses to  look at credit cards or cash payments when he is involved in divorce litigation. Butera, who spends over 70% of his professional time in litigation, has routinely assisted wealthy men hide money from their former wives and children , earning  him upward of $500,000 working on a single middle class divorce case.

Judges also appear to be benefiting from Butera's misconduct where Butera works with  a small group of lawyers, experts and accountants willing to bend the rules,  and break the law to  shift money over to  family law judges as part of a "Golden Parachute Retirement Package" , in return for favorable rulings including fee awards and payments.

​Mafia like conduct alive and well in California's family courts robs  tax payers , clogs the courts and keeps  lawyers fighting where they, and crooked experts , earn more money.
 
​As Wojciciki and Brin settled their affairs quickly, their divorce showed other Silicon Valley divorce  cases containing businesses  and houses are being so grossly mismanaged in Silicon Valley divorce cases,  that alarming amounts of money  are being shifted out of the courts and community property estates to private judges, referees and special masters, accountants  and a select group of unscrupulous lawyers. Kickbacks, bribes and cash payments not recorded in billing statements or contained on  700 disclosure forms have been uncovered by a small and persistent group of investigators and reporters. The trail of corruption leads right to the family court bench.

​​So how are they doing it ?

​Some lawyers shamelessly hand over cash to court reporters and judges. The cash is often delivered in plain sight, concealed  in envelopes that most presume are orders, transcripts or other business of the court. One litigant described hearing Charlotte Keeley tell a client that for $5000 in cash, the judge would be wiling to assure a favorable custody ruling. Brad Baugh delivers cash directly to the offices of lawyers he trades private judgeships and minors counsel appointments with, keeping  wealthy clients and crooked gold diggers off the radar of the IRS and Department of Child Support Services.

​Court reporters and court clerks  Stephanie Estes, Kris Tresdidder, Karla Jackson,  Kris Case, and Karla Jackson  are in on the game too; accepting cash  and  "prepayments " for transcripts which is never reported by lawyers like Brad Baugh, keeping that income off the IRS and DCSS radar too.


​As the banking industry was forced to tightened their grip on money flowing in and out of financial institutions, and  EDD cracked down on independent  contractor payments, attempting to better track cash for child support collection purposes,  a select few have found the new cash cow loophole in California divorce cases.

​Undercover investigations also show how  judges including , David Weinberg , Mary Ann Grilli, James Stewart, James Towery,  Stuart Scott, Peter McBrein , Matthew Gary and private judges, and minor's counsel who are  licensed attorneys , including   Nancy Perkovich, Bradford Baugh, Paula Salinger, Marilyn Moreno, Lynne Yates- Carter, Tracy Duell-Cazes, Debra Crawford, James Cox, Richard Roggia. Nat Hales, Bob Blevans, Tom Tuttle and  Diana Richmond  have networks of CPAs court reporters and custody experts who have established networks of criminals that act like mafia groups in California's divorce court. Courts where there are large community property estates , such as those found in Silicon Valley, Sacramento, Napa, Orange County and San Diego are the most susceptible.

Business expense accounts are also fair game to generate cash in a divorce case. Businesses paying expense reimbursement often do so where they are not required to report the payments as income. Cash taken by cashing expense checks is often  pocketed by a party looking to hide income, or pay judges and others to get favorable outcomes in a divorce, all off the IRS radar.

​Family Court judges make about $180.000 a year, and few have other household income . Yet, family court judges, showing little on their mandatory 700 disclosure forms, appear to be living large in Silicon Valley. Investigators have been tracking the cash and phone records and a recent revealing of social security numbers and home addresses by the State Bar and Equifax have allowed investigators to find where judges are hiding the illegal money they taken while acting in divorce cases.

Family court judges also appear to be concealing their assets by placing pricy real estate  into trust accounts, or another family member's name. Additionally judges  appear to be making private agreements with law firms, where payments and kickbacks are deferred to a time when the judge leaves the bench and is no longer obligated to public disclosures. 

​A background check and financial investigation of James Towery, former Chief Trial Counsel at the State Bar was run after the Bar released Towery's social security number and home address in a Public Record request. The investigation appears to indicate that Towery,  now a  judge in Santa Clara County family court, has been cheating on his mandatory  disclosure statements , his  expense accounts  and his taxes while gobbling  up real estate , and  cash , using his position as a California judge  to do so .

James Towery has been stealing millions from Santa Clara County parents,  children and tax payers while failing to address attorney misconduct of Silicon Valley lawyers like James McManis, Lisa Herrick,  Bradford Baugh, Nat Hales, James Cox, Richard Roggia, Valerie Tarvin, Leah Amani,   Bill Dok,  Walter Hammon, Matt Erickson, Mark Erickson , Heather Allan,  Jeff Rosen, Steve Wagstaff, James McManis, Nancy Perkovich , Elise Mitchell, Charlotte Keeley, Diana Richmond, Catherine Gallagher and Debra Crawford, all who had complaints against them for attorney misconduct  when Towery was top gun at the State Bar. Complaints that disappeared and failed to protect the public.

​Sacramento judge  Peter J. Mc Brein appears to be a crook as well,  a forensic investigation of his disclosure forms and financial investigation shows he has  earned millions in real estate while he acted as a superior court judge. Math that doesn't add up.

Math doesn't add up in Contra Costa either, where Judges Fannin Sugiyama, Edward Weil and Bruce Mills appear to be using divorce and probate cases, tossing in an element of criminal , to set up large real estate and other holdings to cash in on after they leave the bench, with CPA  Jeff Stegner sitting front row to hide those accounting transactions from the IRS and public disclosure forms.  The corruption of Contra Costa County DA revealed with Mark Peterson earlier this year, notwithstanding.

​In Orange County private Jude David Weinberg tops the crooked judge list , where Weinberg is said to make millions a year in private judging, like was needed in the Google Divorce,  while Weinberg has quietly built up over $40,000,000 in real estate holdings. Weinberg is also reported to be  paying cash bribes to the new Orange County  CEO , David Yamasaki.  
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Yamasaki has been revealed as the king pin to divorce court corruption in all of California. Yamasaki has been highly decorated by California's Juicily Council for obtaining federal grants and building new family court houses, but it now appears that Yamasaki obtained those awards and advanced through the court's political landscape greasing palms of state legislatures and hiding secrets of the dirty judges acting in cases like the Google divorce and all the other Silicon Valley lawsuits filed by Apple, Oracle, Yahoo, eBay , and  PayPal . Ironically, it may have been the Google Divorce that led to the discovery of court  corruption in California's Courts.