LOS ANGELES : Ex-Businessman Convicted of Bilking 1,100 Investors

A federal jury Wednesday convicted a former Torrance businessman of fraud and other charges for helping bilk 1,100 investors out of $30 million.

Prosecutors called the Wellington Group scam one of the largest real estate investment schemes in state history.

Jurors deliberated more than a month before finding Morris D. English Jr. guilty of six counts of mail fraud, eight counts of securities fraud, five counts of bankruptcy fraud and one count of criminal contempt. Among the victims were Southern California retirees who lost their savings and a former actor who lost $1 million.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeffrey Isaacs, who prosecuted the case, said English hawked real estate investments on his radio show, promising high interest rates at low risk.

Instead, Isaacs said, English spent most of the money on himself. He bought a limousine, two airplanes, residences in Redondo Beach and Rancho Palos Verdes, and cars for his son and girlfriend.

English, who was arrested at a South Bay eatery on May 20, 1993, conceivably could be sentenced to hundreds of years in prison and ordered to pay millions of dollars in fines.

His sentencing is set for May 23.