Costa Mesa Man Sentenced in Oil Scheme
A federal judge in Los Angeles sentenced a former Costa Mesa man to 30 months in prison for defrauding investors of $4 million in an oil and gas scheme during the 1990s.
U.S. District Judge George H. King also ordered Patrick Wayne Maloy to make restitution to his more than 100 victims.
Maloy, originally charged with 39 criminal counts, avoided trial and a potentially longer sentence by pleading guilty in January to one count each of mail fraud and tax evasion.
Investors aren’t expected to recover much because Maloy bought only a few oil wells and spent most of the money on operating expenses and a lavish lifestyle, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Douglas Fuchs, the prosecutor.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
