Bookkeeper, Two Others Face Fraud Charges : Law: A federal grand jury indicts Donald Lee Peterson and two alleged accomplices, accused of taking more than $700,000 from area businesses.

Donald Lee Peterson, the itinerant bookkeeper accused of making off with more than $700,000 from Southern California businesses, was indicted by a federal grand jury Friday along with two others for bank fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.

In a scheme that has impressed prosecutors for its sophistication, Peterson was hired as bookkeeper at investment companies in Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Westminster, Santa Monica, Long Beach and San Diego over a five-year period.

Each time, he used an alias and a phony resume, staying just a few months. The indictment alleges that by the time he left, he had transferred large sums out of the companies. None of the money has been recovered.

Peterson, 56, had two accomplices, authorities said, both of whom were named in Friday’s indictment.

Gregory J. Gwynn, 41, of Los Angeles, is already in jail, charged with recently shooting his girlfriend. Patrick W. Finnigan, 55, whose last known address was in Orange County, was also charged in the alleged scheme and is a fugitive.

Federal authorities say Gwynn and Finnigan served as phony references for Peterson’s prospective employers and opened bank accounts to which the funds were diverted. Once they got the money, they allegedly bought gold coins and American Eagle bullion coins.

But it was the mild-mannered Peterson, authorities say, who was able to fool employers for so long and figure out exactly when it was time to move on.

His attorney, Donald G. Rubright, is leaving the case now that it is making its way into federal court because Peterson doesn’t have any more money for legal fees. Rubright said Peterson “has got a lot of problems, giving how compelling the (government’s) case is going to be.”

Had the money been taken from one or two companies, Rubright said, it could be argued that Peterson engaged in an isolated crime.

“But this was purposeful fraudulent activity,” Rubright said. “It was repeated again and again with the same modus operandi and so you could see how clear and purposeful it was.”

Companies wanted to hire Peterson because he asked for a fairly modest salary and didn’t require health insurance.

“All these companies just ate it up,” Rubright said. “Certainly, any company that had gone to the trouble of confirming his educational background would have found out what the real story was. People need to be more leery when they are allowing access to their checking accounts and books.”

More than $700,000 was stolen, nearly half of it from Lido Pacific Asset Management Co. in Newport Beach, where Peterson worked under the name David Shelton from July, 1992, to February, 1993.

In Orange County, Peterson also worked for Newport Equities Group in Santa Ana, InterPacific Asset Management in Westminster and Nathan J. International Inc., in Huntington Beach, authorities say.

He was arrested in April, following a story in the Wall Street Journal about the fraud investigation. The owner of a Westminster property management company called police to report he had recently hired a bookkeeper fitting Peterson’s description.

Although the Huntington Beach police and the Orange County district attorney’s office were pursuing the case, they turned it over to federal authorities because Peterson is subjected to greater prison time and a longer statute-of-limitations period for the crimes.

Peterson faces 500 years in prison and a $15-million fine. Finnigan faces 495 years in prison and a $14.75-million fine and Gwynn faces 30 years in prison and a $1-million fine.

Peterson, his attorney said, “could have made quite a good living” through legitimate means. “He’s pleasant and soft-spoken. You get no flavor of a crafty criminal.”