Eastern District of California Blog

Lee Loomis seeks to withdraw guilty plea

At the scheduled sentencing hearing this morning before Judge Mendez, defendant Lawrence "Lee" Loomis requested to proceed pro se and withdraw his guilty plea.  After an in-camera hearing, the Court granted Loomis pro se status and set a schedule for briefing his motion to withdraw his plea.  A hearing on the motion was set for October 4, 2016.  Sentencing has been stayed.  My prior case posts here. [Added 7/13/16:  Sacramento Bee].

Loomis Pleads Guilty In Ponzi Scheme Case

Lawrence Leland “Lee” Loomis, who prosecutors say ran one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in the history of the region and conned investors in six states, pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud Friday in federal court in Sacramento in a deal that could send him to prison for 18 years.

The guilty plea before U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez came after years of investigation and just before the start of his trial, which was scheduled for Feb. 8.

Sac Bee, 1/29/16

5-Year Sentence In Loomis Investment Fraud Case

His association with a flamboyant swindler and, by extension, a Roseville-based $100 million mortgage and investment fraud, set federal agents on Scott Edward Cavell’s trail.

The Sacramento native fled to Ireland in 2009, where life became a nightmare when he was thrown into an ancient prison on a marijuana bust. After eight months of incarceration, he volunteered to return to the United States and surrender to federal authorities.

Cavell was sentenced Tuesday in Sacramento federal court to five years in prison, a relatively light sentence given his flight and compared to what he could have faced. His co-defendant, Christopher Jared Warren, got 14 years and seven months.

Sacramento Bee, 11/4/14

Prison Term For Man In Loomis Wealth Solutions Fraud Case

Johnny E. “Jay” Grivette Jr., the man who went from Paradise to prison, was sentenced Tuesday in Sacramento federal court to 4 1/2 years behind bars for his role as a main player in the biggest financial scam in regional history.

Grivette, 39, who grew up in the central Butte County town of Paradise, managed a company for approximately two years that was part of the apparatus known as Loomis Wealth Solutions, a Roseville-based umbrella for an array of entities created and controlled by Lawrence Leland “Lee” Loomis.

Sacramento Bee, 4/22/14

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/22/6345324/prison-term-for-scam-figure-grivette.html#storylink=cpy

 

Last Loomis Wealth Solutions Fugitive Deported From Ireland

Scott Edward Cavell, one of four people connected to the sprawling Loomis Wealth Solutions fraud who fled the country to avoid prosecution, is in U.S. custody and on his way back to Sacramento.

Cavell, who had been living in Ireland, is the last of the four fugitives to be captured.

***

Fellow fugitives – Christopher Jared Warren, Garret Griffith Gililland III and companion Nicole Magpusao – were captured earlier. Warren was apprehended as he tried to re-enter the United States from Canada. Gililland and Magpusao were arrested in a Spanish village on the Mediterranean coast. They waged a pitched, but futile battle against extradition.

All four were involved in one degree or another with the now-defunct Loomis Wealth Solutions, a massive investment and mortgage flimflam based in Roseville and headed by Lawrence Leland "Lee" Loomis.

Sacramento Bee, 12/22/12

Seven Charged In Alleged Loomis Wealth Solutions Ponzi Scheme

A federal indictment unsealed Friday charged seven people with running a multistate Ponzi scheme and related mortgage fraud scams that prosecutors said cost investors and lenders a combined $17 million.

The years-long investigation resulted in the arrest of 55-year-old Lawrence Leland Loomis. He and his father-in-law, John Hagener, 76, were charged with operating a fraudulent California-based investment fund that cost more than 100 investors more than $7 million.

Both men are from Granite Bay, a wealthy Sacramento suburb.

They pleaded not guilty Friday in federal court in Sacramento. Loomis was ordered held, while Hagener was freed on $1 million bond.

AP, 9/14/12; see also Sacramento Bee, 9/15/12; News10.net, 9/14/12.

Loomis Wealth Solutions Defendant Christopher Warren Sentenced to 175 Months

Christopher Jared Warren dropped out of the Air Force Academy and learned the mortgage-fraud trade. He was sentenced Tuesday in Sacramento federal court to 14 years and seven months in prison for practicing it in spectacular fashion.

* * *

Warren, 30, who lived in Folsom and grew up in the Sacramento area, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and admitted his role in flimflams that cost victims nearly $20 million. Specifically, he admitted thievery that cost six major mortgage lenders almost $12.5 million during a short stint working under the banner of the notorious Loomis Wealth Solutions.

Sacramento Bee, 9/12/12; see also SF Gate, 9/11/12.

Garret Gililland Sentenced For Mortgage Fraud

Two Northern California business partners were sentenced to federal prison Friday for their roles in a multimillion dollar mortgage fraud scheme that inflated the prices of dozens of new homes and triggered an international manhunt.

Garret Griffith Gililland III was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison and Shane Burreson to nearly two years. Both men pleaded guilty last year to mail fraud and money laundering.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Sacramento said Gililland orchestrated the scheme to inflate the sales prices of about 46 homes in Chico, about 90 miles north of Sacramento, between 2006 and 2008.

Sacramento Bee, 8/10/12; updated story: Sacramento Bee, 8/11/12.

Guilty Plea In Loomis Fraud Case

A key player in a multi-state, multi-million dollar real estate Ponzi scheme has agreed to plead guilty and cooperate in the prosecution of the alleged ringleader, according to documents filed in federal court.

Johnny Eugene "Jay" Grivette, Jr., 37, will plead guilty to two charges of mail fraud and money laundering and help prosecutors who are building a much larger case against Grivette's former mentor, Lawrence Leland "Lee" Loomis, 55.

News10, 6/5/12

Chico Developer Anthony G. Symmes Sentenced to 35 Months

Anthony G. Symmes rose to the top of the heap in Butte County as a Chico-based developer, builder and civic leader, but he took a hard fall because he got mixed up with Garret Griffith Gililland III, for whom mortgage fraud was a way of life.

Straw buyers recruited by Gililland and his minions paid inflated prices for Symmes homes and acquired 100 percent financing with phony appraisals and bogus income documents ginned up by Gililland's crew. Symmes kicked back to Gililland or an associate the amount exceeding the true value of the homes. Gililland took care of the buyers.

Symmes, 61, was sentenced Friday in federal court to a month less than three years in prison on a guilty plea to conspiring to commit mail fraud and money laundering. He admitted engaging in a multimillion-dollar plot that picked the pocket of lenders for up to $7 million.

Sacramento Bee, 4/14/12