IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
A former defendant in the Colonies corruption trial has filed a $50 million malicious prosecution lawsuit against multiple defendants, including San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos and former state Attorneys General Jerry Brown and Kamala Harris.
The 56-page suit, filed Monday by Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum in U.S. District Court in Riverside, alleges that prosecutors fabricated evidence against him during the eight-month trial that ended in August.
Burum and two of his co-defendants, former county supervisor Paul Biane and Mark Kirk, one-time chief of staff to former county supervisor Gary Ovitt, were acquitted of all charges. Fourth defendant James Erwin, former assistant county assessor, had all charges against him dismissed after his jury was unable to reach a verdict.
The case involved bribery and corruption charges stemming from the development of Colonies Crossroads and Colonies at San Antonio, a 434-acre retail and residential project on Campus Avenue on both sides of the Foothill Freeway in Upland.
Colonies Partners LP, Burum’s real estate investor group, built both projects. Burum’s is the third lawsuit to be filed in connection with the trial, which was billed by prosecutors as the largest corruption trial in the history of San Bernardino County.
