After being related to a public corruption investigation, San Francisco real estate developer and attorney Yosef Tahbazof resigned from the city’s Assessment Appeals Board. Tahbazof’s resignation came after he was accused of taking part in improper official business. I have a lot of information about him and the case he is involved in about corruption. Read over my post, and then feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Yosef Tahbazof: Is He Connected to San Francisco’s Corruption Scandal?
Yosef Tahbazof, a former official in San Francisco, is being investigated for his role in a criminal corruption case involving a discredited building inspector. Yosef Tahbazof resigned from his role on the Assessment Appeals Board as a result of his participation in the case, which led to his resignation. The city of San Francisco is now investigating the judgments that Tahbazof made.
Yosef Tahbazof resigned from his position after being put under pressure by Aaron Peskin, the president of the Board of Supervisors, in response to revelations that were published in The Standard.
When asked for his reaction, the official Yosef Tahbazof, who had only lately resigned from his post on the Assessment Appeals Board, did not offer one. In the email that Tahbazof sent to the staff of the Assessment Appeals Board upon his departure, he expressed his pleasure in the work that they had accomplished together during his time on the board and wished the board well in its future undertakings.
As part of their internal inquiry, a representative from the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors has verified that their office plans to undertake a thorough assessment of Mr. Tahbazof’s full voting history. This review will be done in conjunction with their investigation.
In addition, it was said that, to the best of their understanding, the appeals that Yosef Tahbazof, his relatives, or clients represented by his legal firm submit to the county assessment appeals board are considered by another county assessment appeals board than the appeals that are made by the clients themselves. This information was given by Wilson Ng, who serves as a deputy director for the office.
This case includes the withdrawal of a public official in the context of an ongoing inquiry into his actions and choices, and the review process’s goal is to safeguard the honesty of the assessment appeals process in the city. The investigation is looking into the acts and decisions the public officials made.
Currently, the city is investigating Tahbazof’s past, which is being conducted by the office of Assessor-Recorder Joaquín Torres, the Office of the City Attorney, and the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. By conducting this assessment, the city hopes to preserve the legitimacy of its procedures and win back the confidence of its residents in the quality of their work.
Since 2013, Tahbazof has served on the Assessment Appeals Board, a position that he had been assigned to in the first place by the Board of Supervisors. This body is in charge of mediating disagreements between the valuer and taxpayers on the monetary value that should be assigned to properties. It is important to note that Tahbazof’s family is actively engaged in the ownership, development, and administration of real estate in the San Francisco area via several different organizations.
According to a report published by the media, court documents indicate that Yosef Tahbazof assisted in preparing the terms of a loan of $180,000 that was given in early 2017 by the developer Freydoon Ghassemzadeh to the then-city building inspector Bernie Curran.
After Curran became the subject of an inquiry by the Office of the City Attorney in 2021, he finally divulged the information regarding the loan from Ghassemzadeh. When he gave his approval for the final inspection of a project owned by Ghassemzadeh, the building and property records revealed that the loan was still being paid back at that time.
This loan is the basis of a criminal prosecution that was launched against Curran by the local prosecutors. Curran has pled not guilty to the accusations of fraud and violation of interest levied against him in connection with this case.
According to the evidence presented in this case, Yosef Tahbazof wrote an email to a financial services business on March 15, 2017, instructing them to prepare a loan contract that was eventually signed by Curran and Ghassemzadeh. The email was found in the court documents associated with this case.
Yosef Tahbazof and Ghassemzadeh have not been named as suspects in any criminal investigation by the prosecutors. Previously, Ghassemzadeh refused to comment on the matter.
Yosef Tahbazof wrote an email to The Standard in which he stated that he had “immediately” tendered his resignation after discovering that Peskin wanted him to stand down from his position.
Yosef Tahbazof: About His Family Background
Sia Tahbazof, 72, father of Yosef Tahbazof, owns, develops, and manages San Francisco properties through numerous firms. According to federal tax forms, he and his wife co-founded a nonprofit that gave over $400,000 last year.
Tahbazof has city political ties. He sponsored a Mayor London Breed fundraiser in 2018, showing his political participation. He reportedly called Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, his opponent in the 2024 mayoral race, a close family friend, underscoring his political ties.
Bernie Curran, the former senior building inspector facing corruption allegations, was represented by defense counsel who called “Developer-1” a wealthy person with a minimum net worth of $100 million in 2017. The statement stated that Developer-1 employed Curran’s daughter, Siofra Curran, at his office until 2023 and had a connection with Curran since the early 1990s.
According to her LinkedIn page, 23-year-old Siofra Curran worked at the Tahbazof Law Firm and Atlas Property Group for seven years, ending in April 2023. Both firms are run by Tahbazof’s children, lawyers Yosef and Sufi Hariri. The law firm’s website and property management company indicate business records support this.
In January, Siofra Curran presented a document in her father’s court lawsuit confirming her job with the Tahbazof family. She wrote about her father and Sia Tahbazof’s long friendship, which predates her birth. She said her father asked Sia Tahbazof for permission to let her earn a living part-time for the family in high school.
Sia Tahbazof looks like “Developer-1” in two important respects. First, in 2018, Bernie Curran approved a critical permit for SST Investments’ mixed-use housing project at 750 Harrison St. Building and property inspection documents confirm this.
Federal prosecutors say “Developer-1″‘s project received Bernie Curran’s permission on the same day and municipal block. These links imply that Sia Tahbazof’s projects intersect with “Developer-1,” strong evidence against Curran in the fraud inquiry.
Second, the lawyers representing Curran recounted the “tortured chain” of transactions that took place before Curran was finally able to obtain funding from Developer-1. A check for $300,000 written by Developer-1 to a relative came at the beginning of the chain, and it culminated in a check written to Curran.
The records from a second state case brought by local prosecutors against Curran indicate an identical chain of transactions. These records were obtained for the very first time by The Standard. The chain of events started with a cheque for $300,000 written by SST Investments to Freydoon Ghassemzadeh and concluded with a payment written to Curran.
According to the posts on Sia Tahbazof’s social media accounts and the property records, Ghassemzadeh, who is 86 years old, is Sia’s brother-in-law.
After being contacted by phone and being asked about his relationship with Curran, Sia Tahbazof hung up and refused to speak on the matter. Following up with him and allowing him to clarify that he was not Developer-1, he did not answer our follow-up questions.
The United States Attorney’s Office did not respond to the queries asked regarding the identification of Developer-1. The office has not disclosed any charges that would be filed against Sia Tahbazof.
The assistance of Siofra Curran and a counsel for Bernie Curran was denied by both parties.
You may follow the social links of Yosef Tahbazof that I have discovered below:
Conclusion
As a result, it is easy to comprehend why Yosef Tahbazof, a former member of San Francisco’s Assessment Appeals Board, stepped down after it was disclosed that he was involved in a corruption case involving a discredited building inspector. Several city agencies have started looking at his record right now to guarantee the honesty of judgments made in the past.
Investigations are being conducted into the circumstances behind Tahbazof’s link to the $180,000 loan at the epicenter of the corruption investigation. The loan was associated with Bernie Curran, who had previously worked as the senior building inspector, in addition to other property owners.
The allegations of perjury and conflict of interest have been brought against Curran, but Yosef Tahbazof, Sia Tahbazof, and Freydoon Ghassemzadeh have not yet been brought against them. This scenario involves many complicated financial transactions, and there are suspicions that the source of the finances has been concealed.
To learn more about this case you may follow the mentioned links below in which you can get other corruptive charges about Yosef Tahbazof & his other family members:
Who Is the ‘Wealthy’ Developer Tied to San Francisco Corruption Case? (sfstandard.com)
San Francisco Official Named in Corruption Case Steps Down (sfstandard.com)
These corrupt men make massive profits by corrupt tactics in less than a year, & at the time of disclosure, they leave the job. It’s a win-win situation, job or no-job.
Are you guys serious? A loan of $180,000! I would have been blessed if I got a loan of $18000 but the banks don’t trust hard-workers.
Best way to shrug-off all responsibilities, leave the job and let them bark. Ridiculous!
Look at the man’s family, each one is a millionaire. Rich men with silver spoons. ????????
Great work guys, but it seems that this man will not have to deal with legalities for long. As you people only described his political ties, and in this capitalist world, if you have political links, you can steal the sun, and remain free.
In a year, almost 20 businessmen deceive the state’s economy. No wonder we are dealing with hard-time financially.