Judge Won’t Let Molinaro Sell Autos for His Defense

Former Ramona Savings & Loan Assn. owner John L. Molinaro was denied a request Thursday to sell two luxury autos and household furnishings to finance his defense against federal fraud charges.

It was the second time in two weeks that U.S. District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler had refused to lift a freeze on Molinaro’s assets. The freeze was won by federal regulators who claim the assets belong to the now defunct thrift that Molinaro ran.

Molinaro pleaded guilty to four criminal fraud charges in November, admitting that he arranged for $10 million in loans to business associates, who passed along most of the money to another friend who wanted to buy the S & L.

He is seeking to withdraw the guilty pleas, claiming he had given federal regulators advance notice of his attempted sale of the Orange-based thrift.

On Thursday, Molinaro sought control of household furnishings said to be worth $120,000, a Rolls-Royce and a Mercedes-Benz automobile, among other assets.

Attorney Ronald Rose, who has filed the legal paper work in the bid to withdraw the guilty plea, said Thursday that Stotler’s ruling means he cannot represent Molinaro in arguments on the motion, scheduled for Tuesday.

The key to that hearing will be statements made by Roger Schulke, a former assistant supervisory analyst for the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the agency that regulated Ramona.

Rose has claimed that Schulke, who was later fired by the agency, would testify that Molinaro told him in advance of the planned Ramona sale. If proven, that conversation would demonstrate that Molinaro did not intend to commit a crime, Rose has maintained.

But court papers filed by the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Atty. Harriet B. Leva, contradict Rose’s account.

In an interview with Leva earlier this month, Schulke denied that Molinaro informed him that Ramona loans would, in effect, fund the purchase of the thrift.