Woodland Hills Man Arrested in Swindling Case

A former Woodland Hills resident with a history of convictions for theft has been arrested in Las Vegas for allegedly swindling more than $500,000 from people who sought his services as a purported loan broker.

David Sanford Turkin, 50, was taken into custody late Tuesday after being charged with 42 counts of grand theft and one count of attempted grand theft.

He was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail and was scheduled to appear before a Las Vegas judge today or tomorrow to determine when he will return to Los Angeles, according to the city attorney’s office.

Some of Turkin’s alleged victims lost property and businesses as a result of his unfulfilled promises that he would help them secure quick loans from the federal government’s Small Business Administration, said Deputy City Atty. Don Kass.

“He assured them immediate funding, and months and months went by” without any receipt of money, Kass said.

Meanwhile, Kass added, the would-be loan applicants gave Turkin up-front fees averaging $2,000 to $4,000 for his purported brokerage expertise. In one case, according to the city attorney’s office, a businessman hoping to repair riot damage to his South Los Angeles property paid Turkin $47,000 in fees.

For nearly a decade, Turkin operated a business called Inter-Cal Financial at 53 Fallbrook Ave. in Woodland Hills. He advertised his services in area newspapers, drawing dozens of alleged victims from throughout the county, Kass said.

He moved to Las Vegas--opening a new consulting business there--when the state Department of Justice began investigating complaints about his Los Angeles operation in June, 1993, Kass said.

Turkin has a record of convictions for grand theft and issuing bad checks that dates back to 1976, and he has served time in state prison for those charges, Kass said.

If convicted of the new grand theft charges, filed earlier this month in Los Angeles Municipal Court, he could face a year in jail and a $1,000 fine for each count. For the attempted grand theft charge, he could face a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $500 fine if convicted.