Newport Beach Man Indicted in Fraud Case : Banking: Already facing trial on federal charges in L.A., Michael E. Parker is accused of defrauding a Las Vegas bank of $80 million.
Newport Beach businessman Michael E. Parker, facing a criminal bank fraud trial in Los Angeles next month, pleaded not guilty Friday to a new indictment in Las Vegas that charges him with defrauding nearly $80 million from First Interstate Bank of Nevada.
Parker, 45, was released from federal court in Las Vegas on the same bond that gained his freedom in the Los Angeles case.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Feb. 25, 1993 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday February 25, 1993 Orange County Edition Business Part D Page 2 Column 3 Financial Desk 2 inches; 44 words Type of Material: Correction
Parker North American--A story Saturday incorrectly stated the amount of money that Newport Beach businessman Michael E. Parker is accused of defrauding from First Interstate Bank of Nevada. The seven-count federal indictment lists loan amounts totaling $8 million. Parker has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The former president of Parker North American Corp. and Parker Automotive Corp. in Costa Mesa was engaged in the business of buying equipment from financial institutions and leasing that equipment back to the same institutions.
To fund his purchase for the so-called sale/lease-back transactions, he acquired seven loans from First Interstate from September, 1988, to February, 1989. The terms of the loan documents required that the money be used to buy the equipment.
A Nevada grand jury, however, accused Parker of converting the funds to his personal use and investing in unrelated ventures, including one that First Interstate had previously refused to fund because it considered the risk of loss to be too great.
Parker’s Las Vegas lawyer, Stan Hunterton, said he will seek a delay in the Nevada case until after Parker’s trial in Los Angeles, which is scheduled to start March 16.
Two years ago, the Big Canyon resident was indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury on 49 counts of racketeering, money laundering, bank fraud and tax evasion charges. The number of counts has since been reduced to 39.
The California indictment accuses him of defrauding now-defunct Columbia Savings & Loan of $11 million in selling packages of leases and equipment.
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