COUNTYWIDE : Vote Delayed on Fees in Fraud Case

The County Board of Supervisors balked Tuesday at spending $350,000 on accounting fees to defend two Thousand Oaks businessmen charged in the biggest fraud case in county history.

The supervisors, faced with the tightest county budget in years, delayed a vote for two weeks. They said they wanted to see if they have any other option before approving such an extraordinary expenditure.

“This is a budget breaker for us. It breaks our back,” said Chief Administrative Officer Richard Wittenberg, the board’s chief adviser.

“I’m going to try to get some realistic options for the board, “ Wittenberg said. “Or at least some guidelines in terms of expenditures in cases like this.”

County court officials asked the board to hire a team of accountants for $350,000 and investigators for $35,000 so Olen B. Phillips and Charles J. Francoeur can have a proper defense.

Although Phillips and Francoeur still hold high-paying jobs and own their homes, a Superior Court judge has found that no private attorney will take their case and has appointed two public-paid lawyers to defend them.

Edwin M. Osborne, presiding judge of the Superior Court, told the supervisors Tuesday that their refusal to grant the extra $385,000 would amount to denial of a fair trial.

Osborne said a rejection might lead to a court order to pay the money or even dismissal of the charges. He said to try the case without providing a proper defense would force an appellate court to overturn a conviction.

The defense is so costly, Osborne said, because the men are charged with so many crimes. Phillips, a former real estate financier, and Francoeur, an executive in the same firm, are charged with 81 counts of grand theft and securities fraud.

More than 120 criminal acts are charged under the conspiracy counts, he said. And defense attorneys must be able to defend against each one.

The judge said the costs might be pared considerably if the district attorney’s office were to cut the number of charges.

Defense attorneys say the maximum sentence is 10 years whether the men are convicted of seven counts or 81.

Donald D. Coleman, special assistant district attorney, said he doubted that charges would be dropped to save money.

“I find it highly unlikely that we would compromise our principles and the principles of the victims in the case for that purpose,” Coleman said.