Squatters have turned an unoccupied Beverly Crest mansion into a party house, hosting rowdy nightly gatherings and even charging admission to partygoers.
Authorities have failed to shut down the parties as the squatters claim they are legitimate tenants. Neighbors in the area told KTLA the parties are disruptive, keeping residents up all night, while leaving them fearing for their safety.
The neighborhood is home to several high-profile celebrities including Lebron James, John Legend, Seth McFarlane and more. Jeff Bezos, Steve Wynn and Ron Burkle all live within half a mile of the home.
The parties first began in October 2023 and would typically start at around 2 a.m. as hundreds of attendees overtake the 5,875-square-foot mansion. The home is located in the Beverly Crest neighborhood, but falls within the Beverly Hills Post Office zone.
“Lots of shouting, laughing, drunkenness,” said a neighbor who did not wish to be identified. “They have parties that have gone from 2 a.m. in the morning until 9 a.m., even 10 a.m. the next day.”
The squatters reportedly charged partygoers a $75 entry fee and at one point, listed a room inside the mansion on Booking.com for $300 a night. The listing appears to have been taken down since.
The partygoers left behind a ton of trash and debris along neighborhood streets including nitrous oxide canisters inhaled by partygoers from balloons to get high, crushed plastic cups, pools of vomit, condom packets and more, according to photos from the Daily Mail.
Neighbors said the police are often called to the home and arrests for assault, fires and more have been made. Vehicles from visitors would completely block the surrounding streets.
“They’re trespassing in our neighborhood and they’re bringing people who come up drunk 2 a.m. in the morning and they’ll just show up by the hundreds and that street over there would be full of cars,” the unidentified neighbor explained.
The home was last owned by Dr. Munir Uwaydah, a doctor who fled the U.S. in 2013 amid an investigation into his girlfriend’s murder, the Daily Mail reports. The home was eventually repossessed by Uwaydah’s mortgage lender and is now listed on the market for $4.59 million.
“I was selling this house and I came up here when the pool man called me,” said the property’s listing broker, John Woodward IV. “He said, ‘People are moving in. Do you still need me?’”
Woodward said when he approached the home, he discovered the front locks and gate code had all been changed and people were illegally living inside the home.
He called the police and when officers spoke with the squatters, Woodward said, “They came up with a fake lease and said that they’ve leased the property. I said, ‘No, you didn’t. I’m the broker.’ Ever since then, they have lived in the property and the court won’t cut off the utilities because they said squatters have rights.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the property’s mortgage lender interviewing a man who claimed he held a valid lease for the home, identified as Morgan Gargiulo, 34.
Gargiulo said he paid a $25,000 rental fee for a one-year lease, along with a $10,000 security deposit. When asked how many people were living with him in the home, Gargiulo mentions three friends named Alex, Paul and Kimberly.
Woodward said the home’s original owner, Uwaydah, was a doctor who had allegedly defrauded Medicare out of millions of dollars.
The home was court-ordered to be sold so the profits could help pay back the stolen funds to Medicare. Woodward was hired by the court to sell the property.
“I’m just waiting for the court to make a decision, or somebody, to evict the tenants so I can get my listing back and sell the property,” Woodward said.
KTLA’s MaryBeth McDade spoke with one of the home’s alleged squatters on Wednesday and was told by the man that he had a lease and had been advised by his attorney to avoid speaking to anyone about the situation.