A five-bedroom Beverly Hills home owned by Morad Ben Neman, a real estate investor who was indicted for allegedly money laundering for the Sinaloa drug cartel, has hit the market asking $14.95 million.
The Wallace Neff-designed property, at 805 North Linden Drive, is best known as the site of a plane crash involving business magnate Howard Hughes in 1946. Hughes, who was manning the first ever flight of his XF-11 airplane, reportedly crashed into the property while attempting to make an emergency landing.
Neman bought the home from former Beverly Hills mayor Richard Stone for $6.25 million in 2013, records show.
He and his wife completely restored the five-bedroom, five-bathroom property to its original glory. It features a two-story formal living room, hand-painted cathedral ceilings, white marble and wood floors, an outdoor dining area, a spa and a pool.
Myra Nourmand of Nourmand & Associates, who listed the home with colleague Seth Perry, declined to comment on the listing but sources said Neman is selling because he already purchased a bigger home north of Sunset.
The Downtown L.A. investor is perhaps best known for being swept up in a money-laundering probe in 2014. He was arrested after the Department of Justice named him in an indictment, alleging he and others laundered $370,000 in cash, some of which apparently had blood stains, for an undercover agent posing as a courier, according to the federal indictment.
That case is pending.
A property Neman owns on 931 East Olympic Boulevard was targeted last month when City Attorney Mike Feuer cracked down on unpermitted housing in the wake of the Oakland fire. The building had no fire alarms or escapes, according to a criminal complaint filed by Feuer’s office. Neman was charged with several misdemeanors and faces up to four and a half years in jail, Feuer said.