THOUSAND OAKS : Authorities to Sell Late Actor’s Estate

A 23-acre estate in Thousand Oaks formerly owned by the late actor Alan Ladd and seized by the U. S. government in December, 1991, has been officially forfeited and will be offered for sale, officials said.

The house at 1515 Hidden Valley Road allegedly was used by Thousand Oaks financier John Allison Bumbarger to defraud Topa Thrift and Loan Assn. into lending money to him through a straw buyer, officials said. The U. S. attorney’s office complaint alleged that Bumbarger obtained a loan worth about $1.8 million through false statements, lied to the U. S. Bankruptcy Court and then sold the home to two additional straw owners.

Bumbarger has yet to be charged with any crimes, said Assistant U. S. Atty. David Pinchas.

“In forfeiture law, you don’t necessarily have to file criminal charges against the individual. You just have to show that the property was involved,” said Carole Levitzky, a spokeswoman for the U. S. attorney’s office. “A lot of times you don’t have enough evidence to file criminal charges, but you can seize the property.”

Because all claims to the property were eventually dropped in negotiations after it was seized, the government was able to take the house without the matter ever officially being adjudicated, Pinchas said.

“We had either settled with every claimant or they had dropped their claim, so we just asked for a judgment,” Pinchas said.

The judgment awarding ownership of the property to federal authorities was obtained in U. S. District Court, Central Division, on Dec. 31, Levitzky said.