Man Pleads Guilty in Fraud Case

A former Orange County man accused of defrauding more than 100 investors out of $4 million in an oil and gas scheme pleaded guilty Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court to diverting their funds for his own use.

Patrick Wayne Maloy, 44, had been charged with 39 counts of mail fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, he could be sentenced to 30 to 37 months in prison for his guilty pleas to one count of tax evasion and one count of mail fraud.

Maloy also could be fined up to $500,000 and ordered to pay restitution, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Douglas Fuchs, the prosecutor. Sentencing was set for April 7 by U.S. District Judge George H. King.

Maloy, formerly of Costa Mesa, was accused of diverting investor funds to pay for personal vacations, cars, the rental of seaside homes in Malibu and Newport Beach and the purchase of a home in Oklahoma.

He now is broke, according to his attorney, Kiana Sloan-Hiller, who said Maloy regrets having harmed investors and wants to serve his sentence so he can rejoin his wife and three children, who live in Texas.