Husband of Marcos’ Ex-Mistress Admits Plotting to Defraud Banks

The husband of Dovie Beams de Villagran, the self-proclaimed ex-mistress of ousted Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Tuesday admitted conspiring to obtain $18 million in bad loans.

On the opening day of the trial of bank fraud charges against his wife and him, Sergio Villagran, 51, pleaded guilty to six counts of bank fraud, two counts of making false statements to the banks and one count of concealing at least $6 million in assets from bankruptcy trustees.

Villagran faces up to 39 years in prison, $18 million in restitution and $1.7 million in fines when he is sentenced Dec. 7 by U.S. District Judge Pamela Ann Rymer.

Faces 42 Charges

The plea by Villagran left his 55-year-old wife, former B-movie starlet Dovie Beams de Villagran, to face alone 42 criminal charges that she submitted false financial statements and tax returns to at least 13 banks between 1983 and February, 1986, to obtain $18 million in bad loans and that she concealed assets from bankruptcy trustees.

In pleading guilty to the conspiracy charge, Villagran admitted plotting to get $18 million in loans by submitting financial statements that vastly inflated the value of businesses he and his wife controlled. These included a luxury auto export concern, International Auto Brokers, and Villagran Properties, which collected the rent from their extensive real estate holdings.

Among the loans Villagran specifically admitted obtaining were $1.2 million from Central Bank of Glendale in September, 1984; $1 million from Bank of America in November, 1985; $800,000 from Valley State Bank in December, 1985, and $750,000 from Imperial Bank in July, 1985.

Declared Bankruptcy

Villagran, who declared bankruptcy the day before Marcos fled a bloodless coup in the Philippines in February, 1986, also admitted concealing at least $6 million in assets from bankruptcy trustees, including antique furnishings, original paintings and a Chinese ceramic collection.

Last Friday, the Villagrans lost a bid for a delay in the trial to allow their lawyers to research the possibility of using an insanity defense. The attorneys claimed that their clients suffered from a virus that might have rendered them mentally incompetent when the loans were obtained.