Ex-Starlet Linked to Marcos Sells Homes
More than 300 people crowded into the Beverly Wilshire’s mezzanine banquet room, and another 100 or so were packed on a staircase leading to the lobby, as Dovie Beams de Villagran, who claims to have been a mistress of deposed Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, put 24 properties--including 19 homes in Beverly Hills--up for auction.
The generally well-heeled crowd came clutching cashier’s checks ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 just to get into the game, but most of those on the stairway never had a chance to play, because fire marshals said the room could hold no more.
One-time film starlet De Villagran and her husband, Sergio, have filed for bankruptcy, and they expected that the sale Wednesday night would help settle their $22 million in debts.
It missed by half.
The 22 homes in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, a pharmacy and medical center in Alhambra and a 67-acre undeveloped tract in the San Fernando Valley netted bids of $11 million, but De Villagran told reporters afterward that she would reject “more than three-quarters of the bids.”
Hustled Off
All bids were contingent on acceptance by De Villagran and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, but successful bidders were hustled off to an adjoining room, nonetheless, to plunk down their cashier’s checks and immediately open escrow.
Before auctioneer Richard File ever raised his gavel, however, savvy investors and real estate experts expressed reservations about some of the properties.
Morris Halfon, a physician who had intended to bid on the medical center, said he had second thoughts when he learned that a $1.28 million loan was due on the building.
“This whole thing is shrouded in a cloud of vagueness,” said Sandy Blavin, another investor. “No one knows if the court or the seller will accept the bid.”
Despite widespread grumbling among would-be bidders about how the Davidson Agency, which handled the auction, was unable to answer many of their questions, the auction got under way shortly after 7:30 p.m. to brisk--albeit disappointing to the Villagrans--bidding.
Snares a High Roller
Wearing a blue blazer with a coat of arms emblazoned on its breast pocket, Sergio Villagran stationed himself in one corner of the room, busily pacing about and dispatching minions to attend to emergencies, such as a getting a prospective high roller who had been trapped on the stairs into the room.
Auctioneer File tried to open the bidding on a two-bedroom home in Los Angeles for $100,000, but there were no takers. After an opening bid of $25,000, the bidding quickly moved up to $150,000, where it sold.
Pico Rivera shipping container manufacturer Willie Zwirin and son Scott were the winning bidders, but Zwirin said the house was no bargain.
While many in the crowd came looking for bargains, others had more personal agendas. One woman who asked not to be identified said she was there because one of the Beverly Hills homes being auctioned is next door to where she lived with her now-estranged husband.
“I’m going through a divorce now, and I want to see what the property sells for so my husband can’t cheat me out of my share, when he sells our house,” she said.
Realtors in the crowd said the homes sold at fair market value, but Dovie de Villagran is still hoping to get more. She wants to let those people who were shut out of the room submit bids.
‘Prices Don’t Cover the Debt’
“I feel it’s only fair to allow those people to make their offers in the next seven days,” she said in the gentle drawl of her native Tennessee. “These prices don’t cover the debt. Some people I know were going to bid much higher, but they could not get into the room.”
De Villagran’s property became the center of controversy earlier this year, when representatives of new Philippine President Corazon Aquino claimed that they had been purchased with money Marcos had given to her.
De Villagran flatly denied that, saying “allegations that Mr. Marcos is involved with my property have adversely affected me financially and emotionally. Mr. Marcos has absolutely nothing to do with this property. . . .”
