Former O.C. Developer Guilty of Fraud

Former Orange County real estate developer Donald Hill Williams Jr. pleaded guilty in federal court to 11 counts of investment fraud. Williams will be sentenced Aug. 17 by U.S. District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler in Santa Ana. When Williams appeared before Stotler, he acknowledged that he ran a Ponzi scheme, soliciting money from new investors to pay off earlier obligations. Williams said he tricked investors into depositing $34 million in two limited partnerships that he controlled. He told investors their money would be used to build homes in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, but instead he was diverting their funds to repay earlier investors. Many of his victims were retirees. Under a plea agreement, Williams promised to repay $30.5 million to 2,500 investors of his now-defunct Anaheim Hills firm. When Stotler asked Williams how he planned to repay that hefty sum, Williams responded that he hoped to have enough money to make a “good faith” effort at repaying some investors. Under the terms of the plea, Williams faces about three years in federal prison.