For us, [possible] corruption in land deals in California always brings the memory of Chinatown.  Here is a story of a limestone mine whose proceeds were to fund a retirement account for former Kaiser Steel retirees.  The mine was vauled at more than $100 milliion, yet was sold by the trustees for $ 3.5 million.  Litigagion followed.  the details:

"Parts of a limestone mine meant to secure the futures of Kaiser Steel retirees appear to have been sold off for a fraction of their market value.

The Cushenbury Mine, which supplies the essential component of concrete to the booming construction trade, is thought to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But a parcel expected to produce 80 million tons of high-quality limestone estimated to be worth more than $100 million allegedly was sold to Mitsubishi Cement Corp. in December 2000 for $3.15 million.

Three other parcels were sold to Mitsubishi Cement and another mining company, Specialty Mineral Inc., for a fraction of their value in 2001 and 2003, a lawsuit filed on behalf of the retirees on Sept. 30 alleges. "

In the suit against the two mining companies that bought the land, Redlands law firm Welebir & McCune also sues San Bernardino law firm Gresham Savage Nolan & Tilden.

It accuses two of the firm’s lawyers, M. William Tilden and Robert W. Ritter Jr., of legal malpractice, fraud and conflict of interest because their firm allegedly represented both the trust and Mitsubishi Cement in negotiating the land sale.

The firm’s legal counsel was unavailable for comment Friday, Gresham Savage spokesman Mark Ostoich said. "