Anaheim Man Gets 6 Years in Investor Fraud Case

A federal judge ordered prison terms of up to six years Friday for three men convicted of helping run a fraudulent clearinghouse operation that bilked investors in 38 states out of at least $15.6 million.

Judge Aldon Anderson gave the stiffest term, six years, to Stanley Willmitt, Anaheim, Calif., an official of the Universal-Independent clearinghouse operation that federal prosecutors said cheated 3,800 people in 38 states.

Willmitt was found guilty two months ago of racketeering and interstate transportation of money taken by fraud. He was among eight defendants who stood trial in the fraud and racketeering case.

Gerald Turner, a Salt Lake City lawyer, received a sentence of 179 days in jail for fraud in the 1981 filing of bankruptcy by the companies. Prosecutors said the bankruptcy was intended to cover up the fraud.

Two-Year Sentence

Ferrell Anderson, Erda, was sentenced to two years in prison for racketeering and fraud.

The mastermind of the scheme, Richard Taylor Cardall, 73, Salt Lake City, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison.

Investors were promised huge returns on their money, about an 8% return per month. But evidence showed that those convicted siphoned off millions of dollars for themselves and other investments that turned sour.

Willmitt’s attorney, James Barber, asked Anderson for leniency. Barber said that while his client “made errors,” he did not “conceive or carry out a fraud” against investors.

But federal prosecutor Stewart Walz said Willmitt was responsible for a fraudulent $108-million contract he said was used to entice more investors into the company at a time when it was running out of money.

“Mr. Willmitt is not simply the man who failed to probe and discover, but had a knowing part in a large fraud,” Walz said.

Sam Alba, another prosecutor on the case, said Turner took $13,000 from two bank accounts the day before the companies filed for bankruptcy, then told a bankruptcy judge he had none of the companies’ assets.