Former Lincoln President Faces 2 Fraud Charges

A former president of Lincoln Savings & Loan was hit Friday with two federal securities fraud charges, setting the stage for another plea bargain that would make him a fourth key witness against former thrift owner Charles H. Keating Jr.

Robin S. Symes, 38, who at one point was also chairman of Irvine-based Lincoln, is to be arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court here.

Federal prosecutors filed the two charges through what is known as an information, rather than indictment, that accuses him of fraud in two sales of high-risk bonds issued by Lincoln’s parent company, American Continental Corp. of Phoenix. The filing of an information typically signifies that a plea bargain has been reached.

The bonds--$46,000 in one case and $50,000 in the other--were sold in January, 1988, to Brian R. and Carla N. Muller and to Custode and Lucia Macro. Those four are among thousands of small investors who lost more than $250 million after American Continental filed for bankruptcy on April 13, 1989. Regulators seized Lincoln the next day.

Lincoln is the nation’s biggest single thrift failure to date; it is expected to cost taxpayers $2.6 billion.

Rudolph E. Loewenstein, Symes’ attorney, was out of town Friday and could not be reached, Loewenstein’s secretary said.

If Symes follows in the footsteps of Ray C. Fidel, who succeeded him as Lincoln president and who has already pleaded to two similar federal counts, he would also be expected to enter into a plea bargain next week in the state’s 21-count securities fraud indictment.

The state indictment was filed against Fidel, Symes, Keating and former American Continental President Judy J. Wischer. Trial on those charges is scheduled to begin Aug. 2. Wischer has a motion pending to sever her case from Keating’s.

Symes, who has a doctorate in computer science, helped American Continental and Lincoln build their computer systems. Through computers, American Continental executives in Phoenix could identify large depositors. Many of them were targeted as potential customers for the American Continental bonds.

Investors, in civil lawsuits, have accused the company of misleading them into thinking the bonds were safe or insured and that American Continental and the thrift were healthy.

In addition to Fidel, two other former Keating associates have pleaded guilty to federal charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. They are Ernest C. Garcia II, a Lincoln borrower, and Mark Sauter, a former attorney for American Continental.