An attempt by L.A. County’s district attorney to freeze a $4-billion sex abuse settlement amid a widening fraud probe was denied Thursday as a judge questioned whether the county’s top prosecutor could usurp the decisions of the county politicians who green-lit the agreement, the largest of its kind in U.S. history.

The ruling boots Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman from his brief stint in a civil courtroom as he moves forward with his sprawling criminal investigation into the lawyers, doctors and plaintiffs behind the flood of sex abuse litigation against the county.

“It doesn’t change our investigation at all,” Hochman said after the ruling from Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff. “But it will make more difficult … getting that money back from the fraudsters. That’s what we were trying to prevent today and, unfortunately, the judge did not agree with us.”

Hochman asked the judge earlier this month to halt the historic payout for six months after he said his office found “fraud indicators” that suggested as many as 4 out of 5 of the claims were false. Attorneys involved in the case have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and maintained that the vast majority of claims are valid.

The first tranche of the $4-billion payout — which amounts to roughly $600 million — is set to be disbursed to victims in the next week.

L.A. County’s Board of Supervisors approved the settlement in April 2025 to resolve more than 10,000 claims of sexual abuse stemming from county-run juvenile halls, foster homes and a children’s shelter. The deluge of claims came after the state changed the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse, giving victims a new window to sue.

Riff questioned Hochman on Thursday about what legal grounds a judge had to halt a payout that the five county supervisors wanted to move forward despite the fraud allegations that first came to light in October. Riff argued the issue to halt the payout was not a legal battle but rather a political one.

“We have an elected official, you … and we have five supervisors who have likewise been elected by the people and put in responsible position, and you disagree on what happens next,” he told Hochman. “This happens in politics all the time.”

The district attorney first began investigating the settlement last fall after Times investigations found nine plaintiffs who said they were paid by recruiters to sue over sexual abuse, including some who said they made up claims, which were later withdrawn.

The county’s legal team fought to keep the deal on track, arguing that enhanced fraud prevention would be enough to weed out false claims. County lawyers have long viewed the $4-billion settlement as a good deal, arguing that taking the cases to trial would be a bankrupting proposition.

The county has steadfastly avoided taking a position on the district attorney’s freeze request, determined not to blow up a settlement that officials want over and done with.

Riff pressed Hochman on Thursday on whether he’d brought his claims of rampant fraud to the five supervisors and their top attorney.

“Why did you not pick up the phone and call [County Counsel] Dawyn Harrison and say, ‘Ms. Harrison, there is widespread fraud occurring in the settlement. You’ve got to stop this thing’?” questioned Riff.

Hochman said he had indeed passed on warning to the county.

“And yet they proceed,” Hochman said. “They are turning their district attorney’s picture to the wall.”

Attorneys for plaintiffs in the case say Hochman is vastly overstating the level of fraud and relying on databases with faulty information about who was incarcerated in county custody as a juvenile.

“We’re here on what I would call a hunch or, at best, a suspicion,” said Brian Perkins, an attorney representing multiple victims in the case. “The presence or absence of a hit in database searches does not equate to fraud.”

The district attorney’s office has claimed in court filings that prosecutors maintain older records of juvenile delinquency proceedings that are not available to the myriad other people vetting claims in the settlement, including multiple judges and the State Bar.

“We’re potentially talking about thousands of fraudulent lawsuits,” he claimed. “I’ve never seen it before.”

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