Ventura Man Sent to Prison for Role in Investment Fraud

A Ventura man was sentenced to 12 years in state prison for defrauding 20 investors out of more than $3 million in a strawberry farming and brokerage business he operated with his wife in Oxnard, prosecutors said Thursday.

Dennis Willingham, 46, also was ordered to pay more than $2 million in restitution to his victims during a hearing Wednesday in Ventura County Superior Court, prosecutors said.

But victims have been told restitution is unlikely because the Willinghams apparently are broke, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Dobroth.

“We’ve done a great deal of investigation and have not been able to locate any money.”

Willingham pleaded guilty Sept. 23 to 20 felony counts of securities fraud and selling faulty securities. His wife, Brenda Paak Willingham, 52, pleaded guilty in May to two dozen felonies, admitting that she cheated 37 investors out of $5 million. She is serving a 15-year sentence.

Beginning in 1998 and continuing through 2003, the Willinghams asked friends and acquaintances to invest in Sunshine Fresh Produce of Oxnard and Willingham Farms -- both real firms -- in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

The Willinghams told investors that their companies were very profitable and promised 10% returns on investments of a few weeks and 100% returns on investments of one year.

Investors lived in Georgia and Florida as well as Oxnard and Santa Barbara. Dobroth estimated that hundreds of people invested, including one who poured in more than $1 million.

The scheme lasted so long because some investors received returns on their investments, prosecutors said.

Those cited in Dennis Willingham’s case got back about one-third of the $3 million they invested, prosecutors said.