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

By  Dolia Estevez

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.