Panda Resources’ Head Pleads Guilty to Fraud

The head of a defunct Century City-based firm that marketed allegedly fraudulent investment schemes from several offices, including one in Agoura, pleaded guilty last week in Los Angeles District Court to one count of fraud, two counts of securities law violations and one count of perjury.

James Young, 32, who was chairman and chief executive of Panda Resources International Ltd., pleaded guilty to the four counts after being charged in February with 42 counts of fraud and improperly selling securities. Young, a Glendale resident, is due to be sentenced on July 30. He faces three to five years in prison.

Blake W. Wilson, 43, a member of the Ojai Redevelopment Commission, is one of 10 other Panda associates who have been charged with fraud and violations of securities laws. Wilson, who allegedly ran one of Panda’s boiler rooms in Agoura, has pleaded not guilty and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for July 17.

According to Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Mazur, Young, Wilson and others sold Panda securities through television and newspaper ads and over the phone, telling investors their money would be used to fund a Michael Jackson board game, a dance music awards program, soccer matches and other entertainment events. Panda collected about $5 million from 300 investors between October, 1989, and October, 1990, Mazur said.

Mazur said the securities sold by Panda were never properly registered and that Young and his staff made false and misleading statements to investors. Most of the money raised was used to pay employee salaries, commissions and “interest” to early investors, he said.