CPA Pleads Guilty, Will Aid Ramona S&L; Probe
An Orange County certified public accountant who funneled millions of dollars in loans from the failed Ramona Savings & Loan to his clients pleaded guilty to bank fraud Monday and agreed to cooperate with a federal investigation into other shady deals involving the thrift.
Federal prosecutors accused Robert C. Gilbert of acting as a “straw borrower” for an undisclosed number of clients who used $5 million in Ramona loans as a down payment to buy Ramona from John L. Molinaro, who with Donald P. Mangano Sr. owned the Orange-based thrift before state and federal regulators seized it in September, 1986.
As expected, Gilbert pleaded guilty to four counts of making false statements on loan applications to a savings and loan. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 7, at which time the federal government will recommend a sentence to a U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles, said Steve Zipperstein, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case. Zipperstein declined to say how severe a sentence he will recommend, but the maximum would be eight years in federal prison and a $1-million fine.
Despite Gilbert’s willingness to cooperate in further investigations, he has no assurances regarding what sentence will be recommended, Zipperstein said.
The prosecutor said that the money trail in this case began with Gilbert, flowed through two parties and ended at Molinaro, who pocketed $1.8 million. Mangano received the remaining $3.2 million, said Zipperstein, who declined to name the two intermediaries, saying it might interfere with his continuing investigation into Ramona.
Mangano, a real estate developer from Huntington Beach, and Molinaro, a former carpet salesman from San Jose, are accused of executing a complicated real estate scheme in which they drained Ramona for personal wealth and eventually led the thrift to collapse.
The pair were convicted in October, 1989, on more than 30 counts of bank fraud and conspiracy. It is expected that Ramona’s failure will cost taxpayers $65 million.
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