Minister Found Guilty in Theft of $1.7 Million

A Ventura County Superior Court jury convicted an Ojai minister Thursday of using a phony investment scheme to swindle approximately $1.7 million from about 30 people, including several of his own parishioners.

Robert J. Brancato, 55, a minister with the Church of Christ, stood expressionless as a court clerk read guilty verdicts on 23 charges of grand theft.

The jury in the monthlong trial, which Judge Kenneth Yegan called “lengthy and complicated,” acquitted Brancato on one charge of grand theft and three charges of tax evasion in connection with the operation of National Preferred Business Services, a company he ran from 1984 to 1988.

Still, Deputy Dist. Atty. John L. Geb, who prosecuted the case, said he was happy with the outcome.

Geb said Brancato funneled half of the money to himself. Another 25% was used for office expenses, and the remaining 25% was sent to investors to make them believe they were earning substantial interest on their investments, he said.

Geb said prosecutors learned of the scheme from concerned investors, who became suspicious of Brancato in 1988. A grand jury indicted Brancato in December, 1989, he said.

Despite an impassioned argument from defense attorney George Dyer that Brancato would not leave town, Yegan ordered the minister held in Ventura County Jail without bail until a sentencing hearing Dec. 6.

Geb argued that Brancato could be sentenced to 10 years in prison and is at risk of fleeing.

“He could be hundreds of miles away from here in a day or two,” he said.

As Brancato was led away by sheriff’s marshals, several of his relatives, who sat in the front row of the courtroom, waved and smiled. “I love you,” an elderly woman called out to him. Brancato smiled and waved back.

His wife, Dreema Brancato, gave her husband a thumbs-up signal as he was taken through a back door.

Brancato’s relatives declined to comment after the verdict.

Clinton Storm, a minister at the Church of Christ in Ojai, called Brancato a “maverick preacher” who was not affiliated with any Church of Christ in the county.

Storm said Brancato held services for almost a year in a rented hall at a junior high school. He said Brancato told him that he did not want to preach at the Ojai church because he wanted to pursue his own “special views on the church.” Storm said he could not elaborate on those views.

Throughout the trial, Dyer had argued that Brancato’s only crime was trying to operate a “risky and foolhardy” venture that eventually failed.

“He tried some sort of venture . . . even I could never comprehend what it was, but it was not illegal,” he said after the verdict. “I think the guy intended to help people and it didn’t work out, and this is where he ended up.”

Geb said Brancato began his operation by selling insurance. Through applications, he determined which clients had a great deal of money to invest, the deputy district attorney said.

“Apparently those with the most liquid assets he would try to present investment offers,” Geb said.

According to court records, Brancato bilked most of the investors out of $25,000 to $100,000.

One investor, Michael Harris of North Hollywood, testified earlier in the trial that he got back less than $14,000 of the $130,000 he invested in a five-year “debt-security” plan through Brancato’s company.

“I was agitated because I had not received a return on my investment,” he said.

Geb said Brancato promised investors that their money would go toward projects to help reduce unemployment and mortgage rates and benefit military veterans.