An Irvine resident is suspected of extorting the family of a Laguna Beach rug store manager accused of assaulting or molesting 11 women, Laguna Beach police said Thursday.
Javad Mostafavi, 70, was arrested last week for allegedly extorting the family of Saeid Boustanabadi Maralan, who is being held on $1.5 million bail in connection with the alleged assault.
Maralan's wife reported that Mostafavi threatened the family on multiple occasions, saying he would print Maralan's booking photo on the cover of his Irvine-based Persian magazine, Payam-e-Ashena, if he wasn't paid $3,000. The magazine publisher even emailed the wife a mock-up of the magazine with Maralan's photo on the cover, according to Lt. Jason Kravetz.
Maralan is a registered sex offender who had several earlier sexual assault convictions in Los Angeles County.
His case has stirred anger in the community because more than a year lapsed between the first police reports in Laguna Beach and Maralan's arrest in September.
Maralan faces a maximum sentence of 60 years to life in state prison if convicted, prosecutors said.
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-- Joanna Clay
Photo: Saeid Boustanabadi Maralan. Credit: Laguna Beach Police Department
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