Charges Filed Against Ex-Riordan Appointee

Misdemeanor charges of engaging in an act of prostitution were filed Thursday against Scott Z. Adler, the Riordan-appointed head of the Los Angeles Business and Safety Commission, who resigned earlier this year.

Adler, a 40-year-old lawyer, lobbyist and land developer who lives in Marina del Rey, and 42-year-old Mark Handel of Sherman Oaks, are accused of paying to have oral sex with a masseuse at a Van Nuys apartment building, according to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The charges stem from a Los Angeles Police Department sting on a massage service allegedly fronting as a prostitution ring.

Adler also had been accused of impersonating a police officer by flashing his city commissioner’s badge and implying that he could help the woman if she ever got in trouble at City Hall.

The city attorney’s office said it lacked sufficient evidence to prosecute Adler on the badge issue, but the accusation has prompted the City Council to strip all commissioners of their special badges.

In a separate investigation, the district attorney’s office has decided not to file conflict-of-interest charges against Adler for representing a Koreatown bar manager in court on a citation by the Building and Safety department Adler headed.