According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in May a man who looks nothing like Bren set up bank accounts in Bren’s name earlier this year, deposited Bren’s refund check into one, and then transferred most of the money out.

The complaint did not say how the man obtained Bren’s check.

The suspect is referred to in court documents as FNU LNU, for “first name unknown” and “last name unknown” as he has not been identified.

The man set up four accounts in Bren’s name at East West Bank’s Cerritos branch on Feb. 16 and used a U.S. Treasury check payable to Bren in the amount of $1,389,524.61 as deposit for the accounts.

The man gave a mailing address in South Los Angeles and listed his occupation as “smoke shop.”

During the next month the man made a series of transfers from the accounts in a total of more than $1.1 million.

During this time the Internal Revenue Service notified the Secret Service of the deposit.  According to the complaint the Secret Service “came to know that the true Donald Bren, to whom the IRS refund check was made payable, is the chairman of the Irvine Company, and not FNU LNU.”

The Orange County Business Journal reports that Bren is not on the hook for the loss, which would be taken by the bank or its insurance company.

The $1.4 million would represent around 0.12 percent of Bren’s reported net worth of $12 billion.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 2000 to mid-May, it had received more than 6,200 complaints involving sudden acceleration in Toyotas.  89 deaths and 57 injuries over the sam period are included in the reports.  Previously, 52 deaths had been suspected of being connected to the problem.

More than eight million vehicles worldwide have been recalled by Toyota Motor and a record $16.4 million fine has been paid for its slow response to an accelerator pedal recall by the automaker.  Toyota is also facing many lawsuits.

Toyota said in a statement that it was “making an all-out effort to ensure our vehicles are safe, and we remain committed to investigating reported incidents of unintended acceleration in our vehicles quickly.”

Toyota said that it would “continue to work” with law enforcement and federal regulators and that many of the complaints in the database lacked sufficient detail that could help identify the cause of the accident.

An older version of the “soda tax” proposal was rejected by the state legislature.  The beverage industries also took a strong stance against it.  The new proposal by the governor would make diet sodas cheaper and unhealthier and sugary drinks would rise in price.

“The new proposal will discourage consumption of high-calorie beverage while simultaneously making lower-calorie beverages more affordable, which will lead to major gains in public health,” stated New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

According to health experts, two thirds of the U.S. population is overweight and considered obese and non-diet sodas are one of the leading causes of excess calories being consumed by Americans.  These excess calories are helping contribute to the obesity epidemic.

The chairman of New Yorkers Against Unfair Taxes, Nelson Eusebio, stated, “The plan was bad for business and bad for consumers. We don’t need another tax to fuel more government spending. No matter how he tries to package it, imposing a new $1 billion tax on already stretched New Yorkers is simply a bad idea.”

Santana issued a statement on Sunday that he had checked into an undisclosed program Saturday.

In the statement Santana said, “I do not know how long this stage of my journey will be. I apologize to my family, friends, the mayor, City Council, CAO staff, and the entire city family for my irresponsible behavior,”

California Highway Patrol arrested Santana  in Covina at 12:15 a.m. Friday after he attended a charity roast for L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley.

Ray Ciranna, will be the acting city administrative officer. Villaraigosa spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said she did not know when Santana would return.

L.A. is currently dealing with a $212-million budget gap and since Santana took the job last year he has been given the difficult task of addressing the city’s financial crisis.

Moxley was involved in a four-car accident at around 1:20 a.m. Friday on W. Franklin Street at N. Pulaski Street.

Reports say that Moxley was driving a 2007 Toyota Highlander and slammed into the vehicle in front of him which was stopped at a red light. The accident caused a chain reaction.

Police arrived and found Moxley swaying as he was walking near his vehicle. The councilman failed a field sobriety test administered by the officer. He was taken to Central Booking where he was processed and charged with DUI.

This is Moxley’s second arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Moxley is a Democrat representing the 1st District, which includes Catonsville, Arbutus, Halethorpe and Relay.

Ford said he thought the sex with the 23-year-old woman was consensual. However, prosecutors said the woman woke up to find Ford assaulting her, and that Ford called her later to apologize.

Ford’s sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 4.