VENTURA : More Charges Issued in Bank Fraud Case

A federal grand jury has brought additional charges against a Ventura man accused of conspiring to swindle several banks and private investors out of nearly $3 million, the FBI reported Friday.

Patrick Michael Downey, 42, will face nine felony counts for his alleged involvement in a real estate scheme that began in October, 1989, and continued until June, 1992, under a new indictment handed up Thursday.

Downey, who operated a mortgage brokerage, Sunwest Pacific Mortgage Services in Ventura, was arrested earlier this month and charged with bank fraud. He is accused of working with a Fresno couple to obtain loans of $2.45 million from two Southern California banks using falsified income tax returns, the FBI said.

The couple, William Frederick Williams and Mary Craig Williams, were arrested earlier this month. William Williams pleaded guilty to six counts of bank fraud and charges against his wife were dropped as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The new charges against Downey accuse him of falsifying loan applications, disclosure statements, trust deeds and other documents during five other transactions, the FBI said.

According to the indictment, Downey applied for several loans, including one of $150,000 on property in Santa Paula and another of $12,000 for property in Moreno Valley near Riverside, without telling the lender about prior property liens.

He is also accused of applying for a $132,000 loan on a Ventura property without disclosing to lenders that the parcel was landlocked and had no access to public streets.

Downey is scheduled to stand trial on May 31 in U. S. District Court in Los Angeles.