Little Rock ‘Bond Daddy’ : Businessman Arrested in Santa Ana S&L; Case

A Little Rock, Ark., businessman, indicted on racketeering and fraud charges in connection with the failure of North America Savings & Loan in Santa Ana, has been arrested, the FBI said Wednesday.

David L. Morgan, 53, owner of Southland Securities in Little Rock, was arrested Tuesday at his business on a warrant issued in California, according to FBI spokesman Ron Wolfe.

Morgan was indicted along with five others by a grand jury in Los Angeles on bank fraud and conspiracy charges dealing with multimillion-dollar losses suffered by the now-defunct North America.

The 40-count indictment was related to the failure of that savings and loan in 1987 and alleges violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization, or RICO, statute, Wolfe said.

The founder of the S&L;, Orange County dentist Duayne D. Christensen, died in a one-car accident in January, 1987, on the morning the S&L; was put into receivership by the federal Home Loan Bank Board.

Morgan made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate H. David Young and was released on his own recognizance, Wolfe said.

Wolfe said Morgan was “described locally as a broker and a real estate venturer. He has owned several different ventures, most of which are closed.”

Morgan, Wolfe said, was known in Little Rock as a “Bond Daddy”-- a type of mortgage banker of whom a number are located in Little Rock, the second largest mortgage banking center outside of New York.

“He was quite well known in Little Rock,” Wolfe said.

Wolfe said the other five people indicted were also arrested Tuesday, in California. He identified them as Janet F. McKinzie, 39, of Newport Beach; Fredrick Youngdahl, 53, also of Newport Beach; Armando J. Vasquez, 52, of Irvine; Victoria R. Walker, 42, of Elk Grove, and Thomas C. Clarke, 63, of Vista.