‘Puppy-Eyed’ Casanova Held in Scams

Short, pudgy and balding, Lee J. Sawaya was an unlikely Casanova.

So investigators are puzzled how the middle-aged man with droopy “puppy eyes” allegedly charmed scores of women and bilked them out of millions of dollars in phony investment deals.

Detectives unraveling the coast-to-coast caper allege that Sawaya spent his adult life as a devious Prince Charming who may have swindled as many as 1,000 victims before he was arrested Jan. 11 at a San Francisco restaurant while dining with his wife of three days, a woman he had proposed to the day they met.

“He was not that attractive. He was short and overweight, but he had a way about him,” said Sawaya’s wife, “Sarah,” who asked that her real name not be used. The 47-year-old Marin County real estate broker had never wed until she met the man introduced as Franklin Rossi and married him Jan. 8 after a whirlwind courtship.

“Some of my friends were absolutely crazy about him,” she said. “I had a piano and he would play classical and jazz and anything very well. He was charming, a little rough around the edges, but he . . . seemed to be sensitive and concerned about people.”

Bart Stinson, a Marin County sheriff’s detective, said “maybe a dozen agencies want to talk to him, coast to coast,” including police in Arizona, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Florida, Louisiana and New York. A warrant is outstanding in Virginia, authorities said.

He is also wanted on federal charges of income tax evasion and wire fraud in New Jersey, where he is charged under the name of Anthony Lamonica with defrauding investors out of $2.3 million since 1983, said Assistant U.S. Atty. James Flanagan in Newark, N.J.

Authorities in New Jersey say Sawaya duped victims into thinking he could buy cheap casino shares, used their “investments” at the crap tables and shared the complimentary services granted to high-rollers.

Federal authorities were tipped off last week that Sawaya and Lamonica were the same man by callers who saw Sawaya’s picture in newspapers, Flanagan said.

“We are 100% satisfied that it is Lamonica,” Flanagan said. “Our indictment stands and we intend to go forward with it when we have the opportunity.”

Marin County and Los Angeles authorities charged him with grand theft. He will enter a plea Feb. 5 at a Marin Municipal Court preliminary hearing.

History of Charges

Sawaya had a California arrest record for forgery and fraud charges under that name dating to 1962, Flanagan said. But neither police nor federal authorities know which of at least eight aliases is his real name.

Since Sawaya’s picture appeared, San Francisco police have contacted 20 women who identified him as a man with the hypnotic power of Svengali, capable of convincing businesswomen to hand over thousands of dollars, police said.

“It’s fascinating,” said San Francisco Police Detective Gary Jiminez. “The victims are all attractive, well-dressed, successful women with excellent taste. They all fit that pattern. I said, ‘Man, this guy is a real talent agent.’ ”

Sawaya bragged of being a concert pianist, a casino owner in Beirut and a Nevada bookmaker, police said. More than one woman noted that he was an exceptional lover, Jiminez said.

But it was his pitiful “puppy dog eyes” as much as his cashmere coats, diamond rings and free spending that enticed them, according to alleged victims interviewed by Jiminez.

False Claims

In the San Francisco Bay Area, he claimed to own a diamond business and persuaded women to buy bargain gems they never received, invest in development schemes that failed and, in a few cases, give him money to bet on what he said were fixed horse races, police said.

The scam might never have unraveled had it not been for a friend who showed Sarah’s wedding picture to a party guest who recognized Sawaya as the man who earlier had romanced and cheated her, Jiminez said.

At least one woman still believes Sawaya truly loved her, Jiminez said. But Sarah, who says she was taken for $13,700 and whose marriage is being annulled, said she harbors no illusions.

“Anyone would like to believe that, but I think all he did and said was a lie,” she said. “But who knows . . . I don’t think he even knows who he is anymore.”