Businessman Who Failed to Appear for Jail Captured

A businessman who failed to show up to serve a one-year jail term after he was convicted of defrauding Santa Paula Savings & Loan and four other institutions has been arrested in Big Bear, officials said Monday.

Steven W. Hughes of Laguna Hills will be brought back to Ventura later this week, where he could face charges for absconding. He was arrested and booked into San Bernardino County Jail on Thanksgiving after a county district attorney’s investigator tracked him to his rustic mountain house.

According to Robert Meyers, senior deputy district attorney, Hughes and his partner, Robert Potter, were convicted in July, 1989, of grand theft and conspiracy to commit theft in connection with a $2.5-million fraud scheme.

Hughes and Potter--who together ran several lending institutions and brokerage firms in Orange County--used fake buyers to obtain the loans from July, 1982, through September, 1983, Meyers said.

The Ventura County district attorney’s office began investigating the case in 1986 when Santa Paula Savings officials reported to authorities that they had made a $500,000 bogus loan in connection with the scheme, Meyers said.

Meyers said the investigation quickly expanded to include four other institutions throughout the state--Gateway Savings Bank, Security Savings Bank, State Savings & Loan and Home Rediscounting Corp.

“They purchased property in the name of a straw buyer and then they walked away, leaving the lending institutions to hold the bag,” Meyers said. “They were able to reap quite a bit of money.”

Instead of sending the two men to a state prison, Meyers said, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Yegan ordered them to pay about $1.2-million restitution and to serve one year each in County Jail.

The judge agreed to stagger the sentences so one of the men could continue to work while the other was in jail. The men agreed to give the court a $1-million cashier’s check and $50,000 monthly installments until the restitution was met.

Hughes was scheduled to go into jail in March after Potter was released. But when he failed to show up, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

According to Meyers, investigator Vinse Gilliam guessed that Hughes might go to the mountain house to celebrate Thanksgiving. After Gilliam spotted Hughes on the front porch of the house, the investigator called sheriff’s deputies to help him arrest the businessman.

Hughes could face five years in state prison, Meyers said.

“Mr. Hughes had to know if he was caught, there was a very good chance he would go to state prison,” Meyers said. “He took that gamble and now it will be interesting to see what happens.”