Accountant Tells of Role in Defrauding of Clients

He’s accused of duping the ex-wife of a television screenwriter, the woman who wrote “Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them,” and a former Mr. Universe.

All three have been called to testify against Frank Boyd Cockrell II in a securities fraud case that reads like a bad novel.

Cockrell, 49, faces 24 felony counts in the case, including tax evasion, grand theft and money laundering.

On Wednesday, Cockrell’s accountant, Clayton Bromberg, took the stand in Ventura County and tearfully confessed that he was motivated by greed when he failed to warn a wealthy client about Cockrell’s shady business dealings.

Bromberg, who worked with Cockrell for six years, helped him find clients to invest in his bogus financial schemes.

One of those clients was Susan Forward, therapist and author of “Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them.”

“I should have told her, ‘Be a little more careful in what you’re investing in,’ ” Bromberg said. “But I wanted to go through with this. I felt Cockrell would be a big client and I would profit by it.”

“Did you fail to disclose because you stood to benefit by working with a client like Mr. Cockrell?” Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Aveis asked.

“Yes sir,” Bromberg said, his voice faltering as tears ran down his face.

“Were you motivated by your own greed?” Aveis asked.

“Yes sir,” said Bromberg, as he put his head down and began to cry. “I’m sorry.”

Bromwell was named as a co-defendant in the case, but then pleaded guilty to five felony charges, including grand theft and securities fraud, the day before the jury trial began.

In what has been referred to as a case about “stocks, lies and audiotape,” Cockrell ultimately lost $1.7 million of other people’s money, prosecutors charge.

Others who Cockrell is accused of deceiving include Dean Tornabene, a former Mr. Universe, and Susan McRaven, the ex-wife of a screenwriter for “Mork and Mindy.”

Although Cockrell was a resident of Sherman Oaks, the securities fraud case is being tried in Ventura County because several of his former investors live here and the money obtained from them flowed through local bank accounts.

Cockrell will face separate charges of attempted murder and solicitation to commit murder in Los Angeles for allegedly masterminding a plot to blow up the Ventura County Courthouse. The plot was an attempt to prevent his case from going to trial, prosecutors have said.

Judge Vincent J. O’Neill has ruled that evidence from the bomb plot will be allowed in this trial because prosecutors argued it goes to show “consciousness of guilt.”

Cockrell was indicted two years ago by the Ventura County Grand Jury on charges of swindling investors in a bogus investment scheme and bilking insurance companies and investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But in September the case took an unexpected turn after a federal agent accused Cockrell of trying to hire the undercover officer to blow up the courthouse in an attempt to destroy evidence against him.

The bombing trial is scheduled to begin when the fraud trial concludes.

So far, Aveis has used witnesses’ testimony to paint Cockrell as a man who lied and misrepresented himself for more than a decade--listing himself as a millionaire oil executive for “Who’s Who,” carrying a business card for the Screen Actors Guild that said “Actor/Comedian” and representing himself to clients as one of the seven wealthiest men in California.

Earlier this week, Tornabene testified that he bought some art from Cockrell. At that point, he testified, that Cockrell promised him $10 million to help him start a health food company. They arranged to meet in Las Vegas, according to the testimony. But as Tornabene waited for the check to arrive, he got a call from Cockrell saying the courier carrying the check had been struck by a car in a crosswalk. Both the courier and the check had disappeared, Cockrell said. Tornabene told the court he never heard from Cockrell again.

Testimony will resume this morning.