Plea Bargain Sought in Univest Case
Joel Burakoff, who allegedly defrauded friends and fellow Friars Club members in a multimillion-dollar investment scheme, is considering a plea agreement with local and federal prosecutors to resolve all criminal charges against him, Burakoff’s lawyer has confirmed.
Burakoff, 56, was charged in December by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office with eight counts of grand theft in the alleged Ponzi scheme that triggered the 1995 collapse of Univest Home Loan, the Gardena-based mortgage broker of which he was chairman and treasurer. Burakoff has pleaded not guilty in that case.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles is preparing separate charges accusing Burakoff of fraudulent dealings with a Beverly Hills bank, where Burakoff allegedly diverted investors’ funds to an account he controlled.
Defense attorney George Buehler this week confirmed that Burakoff is reviewing proposed plea agreements that would resolve both sets of charges.
“No agreement has been reached at this point, but we’re talking . . . with both agencies,” Buehler said. A plea bargain “is something we want to try to accomplish fairly soon.”
Prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office could not be reached for comment.
Since Univest was placed under receivership 18 months ago, investors and other creditors have filed 321 claims totaling more than $16.2 million.
Many of the investors, who typically lost $50,000 or more, had been Burakoff’s close friends or knew him through the Friar’s Club of Beverly Hills.
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