Grand Jury Indicts Financier, 2 Top Assistants : Real estate: Olen B. Phillips and the other men face 81 counts. Their dealings allegedly could cost investors $30 million.

A Thousand Oaks real-estate financier and a pair of his top company managers have been indicted in connection with an alleged swindle described by investigators as the largest fraud scheme in Ventura County history, authorities said Thursday.

Olen B. Phillips, 51, and two men who helped run his real-estate empire were indicted late Wednesday by the Ventura County grand jury on 81 counts of conspiracy to commit grand theft and securities fraud, according to the Ventura County district attorney’s office.

About 2,000 investors in Phillips’ real-estate deals are expected to lose about $30 million, Sheriff’s Sgt. Pat Buckley said. That figure could jump even higher if authorities are unable to recoup money for investors from some of Phillips’ holdings seized by the state last year, he said.

“It’s just devastated a lot of people,” Buckley said. “It’s a real human tragedy.”

Doctors, pilots, attorneys, teachers, churches, police officers and even FBI agents invested thousands of dollars in Phillips’ programs, Buckley said. Some elderly people handed over their entire savings to the financier who also juggled roles as an airline captain, bank director, church official and philanthropist.

But the indictment involves only 21 alleged victims who are said to have lost more than $3 million, authorities said.

Prosecutors said they decided against pursuing the cases of other investors because the counts listed in the indictment already carry maximum sentences of 10 years, the most severe punishment available for such crimes.

“The maximum exposure in California in sentencing is only 10 years,” Buckley said. “It would serve no purpose to . . . drag more people in.”

Phillips is accused of misappropriating funds with help from officers of his company, the Phillips Financial Group. Also indicted were Charles Joseph Francoeur, 33, senior vice president of finance, and Felix John Laumann, 56, vice president of marketing.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested a “scared” Francoeur at his home in Agoura Hills on Wednesday evening, Buckley said. He is now being held at Ventura County Jail on bail of $1 million, Buckley said.

Laumann, of Cambria, was arrested late Thursday afternoon at his attorney’s office in Santa Barbara. Phillips, however, could not be located Thursday by crews sent to find him at his Westlake Village house. He remained at large Thursday evening.

Phillips’ attorney, Louis Samonsky Jr. of Ventura, said the district attorney’s office had broken a deal that would have allowed Phillips to turn himself in rather than be arrested. Phillips, a commercial pilot who routinely flies between Los Angeles and the Orient, has already proven that he would not flee by staying in the area during the 15-month investigation, Samonsky said.

“He’s certainly not running from anything. We had a deal to surrender him to the courts and the D.A. reneged,” Samonsky said. “They go out there with their guns ablazing and their helicopters flying.”

Buckley said the Sheriff’s Department was following a policy set by the district attorney’s office that white-collar criminals should not be permitted to surrender by prearrangement to the courts.

“They’re no different than any other type of criminal,” he said.

Samonsky said he could not comment on specific charges against Phillips since he has not seen Phillips’ business records, which were seized more than a year ago as part of the investigation. He said he plans to examine the legality of the seizure of Phillips’ records as well as the grand jury proceedings. Attorneys for Francoeur and Laumann could not be reached for comment.

Phillips is also under investigation by the FBI for possible bank fraud in connection with the now-defunct United Community Bank of Thousand Oaks and the 1988 demise of its subsidiary, Westlake Thrift & Loan of Westlake Village.

Phillips was a stockholder and a director of United Community Bank. Five people already have been indicted and sentenced to prison terms in the federal case.

In addition to the continuing FBI investigation, Phillips also faces a civil fraud suit filed by the state Department of Corporations and several other suits brought by investors.

The grand jury indictment brings to a close a 15-month investigation into Phillips Financial Group by the Sheriff’s Department, the Department of Corporations and the district attorney’s office.

Phillips owned and was president of the firm, which served as an umbrella for eight other companies specializing in almost every aspect of real estate services.

In addition to running the companies, the officers of Phillips Financial Group sold limited partnerships in certain properties, prosecutors said. Phillips raised about $16.3 million from 1,000 investors in 46 limited partnerships, court records show.

Then, without the knowledge or approval of the limited partners, the officers began encumbering the properties with trust deeds, or claims on the property in exchange for money, prosecutors said. Phillips allegedly borrowed $21.9 million from 973 people who invested in the trust deeds.

The officers proceeded to overencumber the properties with liabilities far exceeding the worth of the properties, authorities said. One such holding has 200 trust deeds against it, they said.

In addition, Phillips Financial Group officers told people buying trust deeds that they were at the front of the line to receive returns on their investments when they were not, prosecutors said.

Investors also were told that their money would be used for construction on certain properties when it was actually used to pay interest to other investors and cover company expenses, prosecutors said.

The Sheriff’s Department began receiving reports from concerned investors as early as September, 1989, Buckley said. One man from Colorado called to report that a $5,000 check from Phillips Financial Group had bounced.

“It kind of snowballed from there,” Buckley said.

When investigators served a search warrant at Phillips Financial Group headquarters in Agoura Hills on Dec. 15, 1989, they discovered boxes full of thousands of documents and began following a complicated paper trail through bank accounts and investors, Buckley said.

Phillips and other corporate officers were removed from the businesses and the Department of Corporations filed suit to stop alleged securities violations and seek damages, officials said. At the time, Phillips was locked out of his business, Buckley said.

A lawyer was appointed in March by Los Angeles County Superior Court to take control of Phillips’ holdings and preserve them while litigation continues. Authorities said they are unsure how much the holdings are worth.