2 Officers of ESM Charged With Forgery

Two officers of failed ESM Government Securities and an accountant were charged Wednesday with forging the will of the firm’s late chief operating officer.

Former ESM President Ronald R. Ewton and Vice President Nicholas B. Wallace, both 45, signed as witnesses to a will purported to be that of Alan Novick, who ran the day-to-day operations of ESM until he died of a heart attack Nov. 23, 1984.

The will was ruled invalid by a probate judge March 20 after a handwriting expert testified that Novick’s signature had been forged.

Wallace, Ewton and accountant Jose Gomez were charged Wednesday with one count each of forgery, Assistant State Atty. Martin Jaffe said. Wallace also was charged with one count of perjury.

Gomez, 37, was charged even though his signature does not appear on the document.

“To be guilty of forgery the person does not have to be the one who actually signs,” Jaffe said. “They have to be involved in the making of a false will.”

Bond for Gomez and Ewton was set at $5,000 while Wallace was booked under a $10,000 bond.

The perjury charge involves an accusation that a false statement was made under oath in the Circuit Court clerk’s office, said David Casey, a spokesman for the state attorney’s office.

The charges are third-degree felonies and each carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Gomez resigned two weeks ago as a managing partner of Chicago-based Alexander & Grant after allegations were made by the Securities and Exchange Commission that he took kickbacks from some of ESM’s officers while issuing audits that said the company was solvent.

Jaffe declined to say what specific role Gomez is accused of having played in the will, nor would he comment on why the will was forged.

The will had been submitted Dec. 27, about a month after Novick’s widow, Sonya, signed a document saying her husband died without a will. The forged will, however, left everything to Mrs. Novick, officials said.

Attorneys for Gomez and Ewton said their clients would enter innocent pleas. Wallace’s attorney, Al Thomas, said: “I do not want to enter my client’s plea right here in front of the press.”

Fort Lauderdale-based ESM was shut down March 4 by the SEC and was accused of bilking more than $300 million from its investors, including several municipalities and Home State Savings Bank in Ohio.

Several days after ESM’s collapse, a run on deposits at Home State forced its closing and led to a banking emergency in Ohio in which 70 other privately insured savings and loans were ordered closed. The 70 have since reopened, but Home State remains closed.

Jaffe said no further charges are pending against any of those charged and that as far as he is concerned the investigation of the will is closed.

But, he added, “we’re just at the beginning of the ESM investigation.”