Santa Monica Daily Press, June 27, 2010

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Volume 9 Issue 196

Santa Monica Daily Press TROUBLE IN THE BUBBLES? SEE PAGE 6

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Crack down on tobacco sales to minors nets 12 violations

Suspect in Redding murder received money before killing THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES A woman charged in the 2008 murder of an aspiring model-actress whose body was discovered in her Santa Monica apartment received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a business associate of the victim’s father, according to a published report. Kelly Soo Park, 44, was charged last week in the death of 21-year-old Juliana Redding. Prosecutors said Park was paid $250,000 three weeks before the killing, and her family received another payment of $113,400 days before Park’s arrest, The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. Prosecutors said the money came from Park’s employer, Dr. Munir Uwaydah, a Marina del Rey physician who was involved in a failed business deal with the victim’s father, Greg Redding. Uwaydah was convicted in 2005 of defrauding a medical supply company of nearly $1 million and currently is being investigated for possibly filing millions of dollars in fraudulent insurance claims, The Times reported. Uwaydah’s attorney, Henry Fenton, said his client had nothing to do with the murder. Fenton said he was unaware of any of the allegations about the payment to Park or fraud. According to the attorney, Uwaydah was traveling outside the country and unreachable. Redding’s body was discovered March 16, 2008, after her mother called authorities to say she was unable to reach her. Redding moved from Arizona to Santa Monica to pursue her acting and modeling career. She had a role in a small 2005 movie, and was featured in a photo layout in Maxim magazine, winning one of the magazine’s “Hometown Hottie” contests. Greg Redding, was “involved in a business negotiation with Dr. Uwaydah that fell apart ... five days before the murder charged in this case,” Santa Monica Detective Karen Thompson wrote in a bail motion obtained by the newspaper. The Times reported Park received a monthly salary of $10,000 as Uwaydah’s employee in addition to the two lump-sum payments police believe the doctor made. Police also said records from Uwaydah’s

BY NICK TABOREK Daily Press Staff Writer

PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY Santa Monica

FLASHING LIGHTS

Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com Families and friends enjoy the ‘Celebrate America’ fireworks show at Santa Monica College’s Corsair Field on Saturday night.

SEE REDDING PAGE 7

Commitment Bands

police have cited 12 people for selling tobacco to minors in recent months, the result of an operation on unscrupulous stores that fail to check IDs before making cigarette sales. Following the City Council’s adoption in 2008 of an ordinance aimed at keeping closer watch over stores that sell tobacco, each of the 122 businesses in Santa Monica that carry tobacco products have had to pay $145 for a special license, which they must renew each year. The new rule took effect last July and has given police extra funding to enforce tobacco laws — especially the ban on selling tobacco to minors. Because of the new funding, in the past several months SMPD’s vice unit has investigated tobacco dealers citywide, enlisting the help of its teenage Explorers — members of a volunteer group affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America — to get the job done. “This is the most concerted effort that the city has undertaken to enforce the underage smoking law,” said Adam Radinsky, head of the consumer protection unit in the City Attorney’s Office. According to Sgt. Jay Trisler, a spokesman for the SMPD, Explorers who participated in the investigation were required to look their age and weren’t allowed to deceive merchants when trying to make tobacco purchases under police supervision. So far, the undercover operation has netted three convictions, with nine cases pending. A misdemeanor conviction for selling tobacco to a minor can result in a fine of $800, once court fees are added on, Radinsky said. Under the law, only the sales person who SEE TOBACCO PAGE 7

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