San Diego : Man to Testify in Fraud Case of Former Boss

The former real estate broker of the El Cajon-based Boileau & Johnson investment firm pleaded guilty Friday to 12 felony counts of offering false documents in recording trust deed investments.

Leland Stanford Pierce Jr., 69, of El Cajon, has agreed to testify in proceedings against his former boss, Paul John Boileau, 44, of El Cajon, whose four-week preliminary hearing started earlier this week.

Boileau and Lillian Louise Stagliano, 43, of Coronado, are charged with 185 counts of defrauding 55 investors out of approximately $1 million in 1981 and 1982.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Cliff Dobrin said Pierce stated on real estate documents that he had permission of the investors to sell the property they invested in, when in fact they were unaware of the transaction.

Pierce’s attorney, Frank Nageotte, said Pierce will not be testifying “against” Boileau, but has agreed to testify.

San Diego Municipal Court Judge H. Ronald Domnitz dismissed the grand theft and security sale violations against Pierce. Nageotte said the district attorney’s office has agreed to ask for no jail time for Pierce at his sentencing on June 19.

The prosecutor said that much of the firm’s 14-year business was legitimate, but it turned into an illegal Ponzi scheme in 1981 when new investors’ money was used to pay obligations to old investors.

Dobrin selected the time period between Jan. 20, 1982, and June, 1982, for the 185 counts because Boileau had by then been advised and warned of the financial instability of his company and of the illegal nature of some of the investments, he said.

The defendants earlier pleaded innocent to the charges.