2 Sentenced in Gold Mine Fraud Scheme

Two men have been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution for their part in a $1.5-million securities fraud scheme, the Orange County district attorney’s office announced Wednesday.

Murray I. Brooks, 62, of Westminster was sentenced to three years in prison and three years’ probation and was fined $600 for his role as leader of the scheme in which shares in a phony gold mining operation were sold nationwide to investors over the telephone.

His accomplice, Croft Ireland, 62, of Huntington Beach, was sentenced to two years in prison and three years’ probation and was fined $600. Ireland’s telemarketing company was used to market the scam, Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter W. Huelsenbeck said.

Last September, Brooks and Ireland were convicted of securities and wire fraud.

They will be jointly responsible for paying $624,000 in restitution to their victims, Huelsenbeck said.

In 1988, Brooks and Ireland sold 400 shares in a gold mining operation called Gold Hill 88, near Virginia City, Nev.

Brooks, who passed himself off as an experienced engineer and accountant, told investors that he would be able to deliver 80 ounces of gold from the operation for an initial fee of $1,600 and 18 monthly payments of $154.50.

Brooks had told investors the site had 1.25 tons of gold-containing ore available for mining. The site had less than a tenth of that, Huelsenbeck said.

The suspects were indicted in Atlanta, Ga., where several of the investors live. The case was then transferred to Los Angeles on a change of venue motion.