Guard Surrenders in Case Tied to Drug Money Plot

A former security guard for a Westlake Village stock brokerage firm surrendered Tuesday to federal authorities, who allege that he helped launder $300,000 from undercover agents who had described the money as coming from Colombian cocaine sales.

Darryl Nakatsuka of Los Angeles--portrayed by FBI agents as a “bag man” in a money-laundering operation allegedly orchestrated by prominent San Diego businessman Richard T. Silberman--surrendered at U.S. District Court, accompanied by Los Angeles attorney Robert L. Shapiro.

U.S. Magistrate Roger Curtis McKee allowed Nakatsuka to remain free on a $200,000 personal surety bond co-signed by his father and secured by a family home in Los Angeles. Nakatsuka was directed to return to court for a preliminary hearing April 21.

In a brief interview, Nakatsuka said he was “surprised” when friends called him Friday night and told him he was being sought by the FBI.

“I was at the office on Friday when I heard,” said Nakatsuka. “I didn’t know what to think . . . I really don’t know anything about this.”

Nakatsuka, who described himself as director of security for Hamilton-Williams and Co. brokerage firm in Westlake Village, said he was acquainted with Jack Norman Myers, who is among four individuals charged in the alleged money-laundering scheme and was still at large late Tuesday.

But Nakatsuka declined to comment on his ties to Silberman and the charges against him.

Meanwhile, Silberman--a leading fund raiser for statewide and local Democratic candidates and a close adviser to former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.--resigned Tuesday as director and officer of Yuba Natural Resources Inc., a mining company with holdings in Northern California. Also, the company’s board of directors formed a special committee to investigate Yuba’s involvement in the alleged scheme.

Silberman, 59, was arrested Friday at a San Diego hotel while allegedly negotiating to launder $1.1 million in funds an undercover agent told him were proceeds from Colombian cocaine sales. His arrest capped a 2 1/2-year investigation by FBI agents who stumbled upon Silberman while trailing reputed organized crime figure Chris Petti.

Petti, 62, was also arrested Friday. Both he and Silberman--who is married to San Diego County Supervisor Susan Golding--face money laundering charges as well as charges of violating laws requiring all transactions involving sums exceeding $10,000 be reported to the federal government. They face a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.

A federal affidavit released Monday said Silberman conducted two transactions with the FBI agent, in November and February, involving a total of $300,000 in federal money. Prosecutors say wiretapped telephone conversations between Silberman and the agent make it clear that Silberman believed the money came from Colombian drug traffickers.

Under federal law, a person need not be laundering actual drug money to be convicted. Prosecutors say that Silberman needed only to believe its source was narcotics trafficking to be charged.

The affidavit spells out in intriguing detail the alleged laundering scheme, which Silberman says in taped conversations that he plotted to have “some diversification.” Silberman stood to earn a commission of between 6% and 12% on the two transactions.

In meetings with the agent, Silberman repeatedly boasted that he had laundered money numerous times before, saying, “This is not my first go around. I’ve been here before.”

Evidence against the powerful political fund raiser, a La Jolla resident whose wealth was once estimated at $25 million, ranges from extensive transcripts of wiretapped telephone conversations to videotapes of the cash transactions.

A broker at the Westlake Village office of Hamilton-Williams--which in March became a branch of Adams Securities--said Nakatsuka worked as a security guard at the company’s offices on Triunfo Canyon Road but quit last week.

Terry Ziegler--another Hamilton-Williams employee alleged to have played a role in the operation--was a “part-time analyst” for the company until he quit last week, said the broker, who declined to give his name. Ziegler has not been charged.

The affidavit says Ziegler invested $200,000 Silberman obtained from the undercover agent in zero coupon bonds. Asked to comment on the allegations, the broker said, “Nothing went through this firm.”

An FBI spokesman said Myers was negotiating for his surrender.