Past Issues Won’t Hurt Queen Mary Deal

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With all of Southern California’s investment opportunities, it may seem surprising that Newport Beach developer Jeffrey S. Klein has set his sights on the lease to the Queen Mary complex – a property that has attracted controversy for nearly as long as the ship’s been in the Long Beach Harbor, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reports.


Then again, Klein is no stranger to controversy.


In his personal and professional life, the 57-year-old has amassed $700,000 in tax liens, $2.4 million in legal judgments and more than two dozen lawsuits against him over the last 12 years. Among them: a 1997 elder abuse and fraud case filed in civil court by his older brother, Robert Klein, famous in California for leading the 2004 stem-cell initiative.


City officials say they are aware of Klein’s past but are not concerned about his ability to develop land around the historic ship.


“There were some things that on paper looked very bad that were easily explained,” said Steven Gubner, the city’s bankruptcy attorney. “Unfortunately, in today’s world, anybody can sue anybody.”


Read the full Press-Telegram story

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