Documentary filmmakers claim that a Los Angeles real estate developer described as a “bundler” of campaign donations with connections to now-U.S. Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.) and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif), led a double life as a notorious and abusive director of hardcore porn.
Mark Handel, a commercial and residential real estate developer, was also known under the pseudonym Khan Tusion, a pornographic director known for having his female performers beaten, spat on and choked to the point of unconsciousness, the Daily Beast reports.
“People would mention this guy ‘Khan Tusion’—they would call him the ‘boogeyman of porn,’ ‘the Freddy Krueger of porn’,” Lucas Heyne, one of the directors of the soon-to-be-released documentary “Pariah” about Handel, told the outlet. “He was known for being one of the most verbally abusive and physically abusive porn directors that’s ever existed.”
Taglines to at least some of Khan Tusion-directed films refer to the women performers as “whores who love to be treated like worthless pieces of meat.”
Traumatized female performers described brutal conditions on the set, even though the director refused to allow his face to be shown on camera.
Handel, who in January 2021 was charged by the federal government with money laundering, as well as concealing assets belonging to a bankruptcy case, donated thousands of dollars to the campaign efforts of local politicians, including Cadenas and Padilla, the Daily Beast reported.
The developer, according to the outlet, was also a conduit to the Los Angeles real estate community, the members of which also donated to local pols. He also had business dealings with James Acevedo, the “political godfather” to Cadenas and Padilla, the Daily Beast reported.
The outlet added that Cardenas and Padilla, while on the Los Angeles City Council, helped usher through several Handel-led projects in their districts.
Handel’s firm, MWH, would later employ a top aide of Padilla’s from his time as city council president.
Padilla’s protégé, former Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, drafted a bill to allow an MWH project to proceed, the outlet reported. Fuentes did not answer the Daily Beast’s requests for comment.
Handel’s federal indictment alleges he formed various corporations — including one named DTMM, which stood for “Don’t Touch My Money – to conceal income and involvement in real estate development projects amid bankruptcy proceedings. From 2008 to 2016, Handel received $4.6 million in kickbacks on an easement on a real estate deal, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in central California.
The indictment, The Daily Beast notes, does not mention Cardenas, Padilla or Handel’s alleged double life as a misogynistic porn director. The Daily Beast and the documentary filmmakers were able to connect Handel to his alter ego through federal and state records.
Handel is due to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Feb. 21, 2023.
— Ted Glanzer