Ex-President Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Sun Savings
Former Sun Savings & Loan Assn. President Daniel W. Dierdorff pleaded guilty Thursday to two felony charges stemming from fraudulent activity committed before the thrift’s demise in July, 1986.
Dierdorff, 51, was charged with misusing funds of San Diego-based Sun; making false statements to federal investigators; and conspiring to injure, defraud and deceive Sun. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 24 before U.S. District Judge John S. Rhoades in San Diego.
In court Thursday, Dierdorff pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in connection with a secret savings account he opened in early 1983 at Sun. Dierdorff said he deposited $200,000 into the confidential account, which he opened under a fictitious name.
He admitted that he kept the account secret from Sun officers and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board until it was discovered in March, 1984.
Dierdorff also pleaded guilty to one count of misusing S&L; funds, acknowledging in court that he forged the endorsement and cashed a check made payable to Paul McDaniels from Conklin Litho. The $2,000 check was supposed to cover the costs of conducting an appraisal of real estate in Idaho.
Dierdorff instead used the cash to pay for the use of a private business jet, according to U.S. Assistant Atty. Yesmin E. Saide.
In July, 1986, the FHLBB and the California Department of Savings & Loans declared Sun insolvent, with more than $100 million in loan losses on its books. The Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corp., which was appointed as receiver for the failed S&L;, transferred Sun’s assets and liabilities to Flagship Federal Savings & Loan Assn., a newly created, federally chartered S&L.;
The counts against Dierdorff stemmed from an FBI and FHLBB investigation that began shortly after he resigned in 1984. The two federal agencies have “investigated allegations of misconduct on (Dierdorff’s) part which led to the demise of Sun Savings,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office. That investigation turned up evidence that Dierdorff solicited kickbacks from Sun customers.
Two Sun customers were convicted in federal court in connection with a long-running FBI investigation into Sun’s final years.
The U.S. attorney’s office will detail those allegations at Dierdorff’s sentencing, Saide said.
