Hoover Loses Limelight, Luster as Scandal Fades

There was a time when the indictment of Nancy Hoover on even a single federal charge relating to the operations of J. David & Co. would have dominated conversation in this town for two weeks.

It also would have been cause for celebration among the investment firm’s customers and others who became hooked on reading about the story as it unfolded more tantalizingly than any TV soap opera.

Hoover provided the sizzle while Jerry Dominelli was supposedly producing the steak in the magical company that once claimed to earn investors returns as high as 40% in the international currency markets.

Trouble was, there was no steak; there was hardly any stew meat. Dominelli--and, according to the 234-count indictment of fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion, Hoover--simply spent much of the money taken in and tried to pay off customers with the rest. Little was actually invested by J. David.

But that was 1984. Dominelli has long since gone to prison on a 20-year sentence.

Roger Hedgecock, whom the two admitted conspiring with to evade the local campaign spending laws, has had two trials, lost his job as mayor and become an adept and top-rated radio talk-show host.

Names such as Pulaski, Axelrod, Gatto, Yarry, Nouskajian and Clark that were briefly almost household words have been largely forgotten--though the last three remain targets of the federal grand jury investigation. Most of the burned investors have gone on with their lives, richer in wisdom, perhaps, but poorer of purse.

Just as people are beginning to stop wondering how much Nancy Hoover knew and when, it appears we may find out after all.

Hoover has never been a very sympathetic figure in the J. David scandal. She always seemed out of touch with reality as she spent and gave away money as if there were no end to it.

Even after the fall, she showed up at the court-ordered auction of J. David’s tangible assets and at the Del Mar Race Track, never with any visible sense of remorse.

Now married to a wealthy Santa Barbara businessman, we can’t help but wonder whether the reality of her current situation has touched her yet.

Hoover’s trial will be a complicated one, and it could be years before the final verdict on her role with J. David is in.

That may not satisfy those who were ready to send her to prison two years ago without the formality of a trial, but it reflects the diligence and thoroughness--and difficulty--of the investigation.

The important point is that now there will be a fair determination of her guilt or innocence.