Judges and Judiciary
Aug. 10, 2002
Judge Sues County Over Retirement Pay
LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has sued the county in a dispute over his retirement pay. Judge Abraham Khan, who sits in Division 3 of the Rio Hondo court in El Monte, wants a refund of more than $13,000 in retirement money plus interest he says was wrongly diverted to the Judges Retirement System when he was a commissioner from 1993 to 1995. Abraham Khan v. County of Los Angeles BC279149 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Aug. 7, 2002).
Judge Abraham Khan, who sits in Division 3 of the Rio Hondo court in El Monte, wants a refund of more than $13,000 in retirement money plus interest he says was wrongly diverted to the Judges Retirement System when he was a commissioner from 1993 to 1995. Abraham Khan v. County of Los Angeles BC279149 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Aug. 7, 2002).
As a commissioner, Khan was ineligible to deposit the money into the judges fund. It should have been diverted into the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement System, the lawsuit states.
Since his discovery of the error by "happenstance" in 1999, the county has twice issued refund checks for $13,846.05, the principal. But Khan claims they haven't included the interest earned on the money.
Khan's attorney, Saskia T. Asamura of Richards, Watson & Gershon said the amount owed in interest is unknown. The lawsuit, also filed against the Board of Administration, the Public Employees' Retirement System and the Judges Retirement System, seeks to get the rates of return during the relevant time period.
"If the rules of thumb are followed ... over that type of time period, the principal is expected to double," Asamura said. "The bottom line is, there's been a return of zero interest."
Khan has been a Superior Court judge since 2000.
Leslie Simmons
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