Man Accused of Stretching Truth on Stretch Limos

Michael Victor Louciano’s brilliant idea was to build a fleet of sleek, stretch limousines to serve visitors to the 1984 Summer Olympics. But instead of riding in style, Louciano is accused of stretching the truth to fraudulently borrow nearly $4 million from two Los Angeles banks.

Louciano, whose real name is Victor Bagha, was arrested in mid-February after allegedly attempting to bribe an FBI agent posing as a bank loan officer. Soon after his arrest, a 32-count federal grand jury indictment charged Louciano with conspiracy, submitting false loan applications to banks and attempting to execute a scheme to defraud a bank.

His business associate, John Marsella, 45, of Corona del Mar, was indicted on 17 similar counts and is free on bail. Both men have pleaded not guilty.

The 42-year-old Louciano is scheduled to go on trial in Los Angeles federal court Tuesday. Meanwhile, he is in custody at Terminal Island federal prison because federal prosecutors convinced the court that he was a flight risk.

When it began, Louciano’s company, Nationwide Coach Manufacturing Co., had the signs of a legitimate business. It had a manufacturing facility in Costa Mesa and a business office in Santa Ana. The company built a few customized Lincoln Continental limousines, but federal authorities allege that Louciano and Marsella pocketed most of the money they borrowed from Mitsui Manufacturers Bank in Los Angeles and Unified Savings Bank in Northridge.

The federal charges were not Louciano’s first brush with the law. In July, 1984, Louciano was arrested in Orange County on grand theft and assault charges after threatening a process server and taking his briefcase. When police arrived to arrest Louciano, they found a sawed-off shotgun and added possession of that weapon to the charges. That case is still pending in Orange County Superior Court.

Louciano closed down Nationwide Coach in 1984 but allegedly continued to seek bank loans through fraudulent means to finance other ventures.

Before opening Nationwide Coach, Louciano, who has a home in Orange, operated a janitorial service business in Orange County.

The FBI’s bank fraud division had been investigating Louciano for several months, but it was a romantic involvement with a woman that led to his arrest, according to court records.

In January, the silver-haired, heavy-set Louciano was dating a woman who was a banking consultant. When he began pressuring her to introduce him to loan officers, she became suspicious of his motives and reported him to the FBI, unaware that an investigation was already under way, according to sources familiar with the case.

The woman agreed to arrange a meeting between Louciano and an FBI agent posing as a loan officer. At the meeting, Louciano allegedly offered the agent $70,000 or $80,000 to begin processing fraudulent loans.

The indictment charges that Louciano and Marsella persuaded friends and acquaintances to fill out loan applications to borrow the $50,000 needed to buy and customize each limousine.

Falsified Tax Returns

According to the indictment, Louciano and Marsella frequently falsified the asset statements and income tax returns submitted to the banks by the borrowers. Many of the borrowers later told federal investigators that their signatures were forged.

Louciano and Marsella allegedly promised the borrowers generous tax write-offs and an immediate $5,000 cash payment for leasing back their limousines to Nationwide.

The loan officers who dealt with Louciano at one bank were fired. Another was removed from his duties and now serves as a consultant to the bank. However, no criminal charges have been filed against any of the borrowers or bank employees.

“I believe Louciano had a legitimate business,” said Pat MacNeal, an attorney who represents Louciano in other matters. MacNeal said he may also defend Louciano in federal court. Initially, Louciano told the court that his annual income was $20,000 and he needed a court-appointed attorney. Marsella’s attorney, James Twitty, could not be reached for comment.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Anita Dymant, who will prosecute the case against Louciano and Marsella, declined to discuss the case.

Meanwhile, the two banks that loaned Louciano and Marsella the money are suing the borrowers and trying to recover on the defaulted loans.

Negotiated Settlements

Mitsui Manufacturers Bank in downtown Los Angeles lost $2.3 million on 30 loan packages submitted by 23 people who were aided by Louciano, according to an affidavit filed in court by FBI Agent Stephen Moss. Mitsui has been able to negotiate some settlements, according to Jay Davis, senior vice president and general counsel.

Unified Savings, which lost $1.5 million on 25 loans, recently won a Superior Court judgment in excess of $1 million against Louciano. The judgment stemmed from the bad loans. Bank officials, however, said they have been unable to collect any money from him.

“It sounded good about the time of the Olympics,” said Terry Donnelly, president of Unified Savings. Donnelly said Unified sent representatives to visit Nationwide Coach’s facilities. The first time, they saw one completed limousine, but later, “we went back and there was nothing there,” Donnelly said in a recent interview.

Donnelly said he stopped approving the loans when he took over as Unified’s president in May, 1984, because “limousine loans did not look like the kind of thing we should be doing.”

After carefully examing the loan applications, Donnelly said he found evidence of forgery and realized that “most of the borrowers did not exist.”