Fraud Figure Back Home, Hits Sentence
Rienk H. Kamer, a former Dutch journalist who pleaded guilty to charges resulting from what prosecutors called the biggest land fraud case in U.S. history, returned to The Netherlands Saturday and said the sentence he served was “politically inspired.”
Kamer and Manhattan Beach financier Bernard Whitney were the principals in a real estate fraud scheme involving up to 6,000 investors and $2 billion in undeveloped land in the Antelope Valley, in Kern and San Bernardino counties and in Utah, New York and Texas.
In a press conference shortly after his arrival in Amsterdam, Kamer denied bilking the investors, called the dollar amounts involved that were quoted by prosecutors, “ridiculous, a fairy tale,” and said the 16-month prison sentence he served here was “politically inspired” by the State Department.
According to court testimony by Assistant U.S. Atty. Henry H. Rossbacher at Whitney’s sentencing hearing, Kamer and Whitney sold $500 million in undevelopable land covered by acres of sagebrush, cactus and sand at highly inflated prices to European investors between 1977 and 1981.
Whitney, 66, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud.
Kamer, 41, just released from the Terminal Island Correctional Institute, also may face charges in The Netherlands.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
