Condo Scammer Is a No-Show at Court

The man dubbed the mastermind of a scheme to illegally convert scores of Huntington Beach apartments into condominiums faces arrest today at his home in Idaho if he can’t prove that he’s near death from cancer.

Phil Benson, 73, who pleaded guilty last fall to helping sell the illegal condos for huge profits, failed to show up for sentencing at a federal courtroom in Santa Ana on Thursday.

His attorney said Benson was dying of cancer and had no plans to appear. “I heard defeat in his voice,” said lawyer Chris Ayers. “He said he was done, in terms of his illness, his life.”

Ayers said Benson’s voice and manner were of someone “who is very, very ill and resigned to death. Whether it’s in seven days or 70 days, I don’t know, but it’s not very far away.”

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter was unconvinced and insisted on hearing from Benson’s doctors.

He will order Benson’s arrest today if the attorney does not provide more details.

“I just don’t know how sick he is, but it’s not his choice not to be here,” Carter said. “I need something more, and even if he believes he’s dying, it’s not going to be sufficient. If I issue this warrant, he’ll be coming here regardless of the condition he’s in.”

Benson pleaded guilty to 24 counts of federal mail and wire fraud while skirting city laws regulating the conversion of apartments into condos.

He was indicted for selling more than 40 units for $11 million with seven others, including former Huntington Beach Mayor Pam Julien Houchen.

Now living in Hadley, Idaho, Benson couldn’t be reached for comment.

Federal probation officials have recommended a prison sentence of 70 to 108 months.

Refusing to appear in court Thursday was Benson’s decision, Ayres said.

“When you’re so messed up with drugs and radiation and depression, you don’t always proceed rationally. It’s a sad story.”

The last time Benson appeared in court was September, when he pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges. Houchen, a real estate agent who worked with Benson at Pier Realty, also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced this year.

Ayers said any time behind bars would be a death sentence for Benson.

He is undergoing radiation therapy and was scheduled to meet with an oncologist today to determine what more could be done, his attorney said.

Carter said he was assured by federal Bureau of Prisons officials that Benson’s medical condition was treatable in custody.

Renee Tarnow, who successfully sued Benson for selling her an illegal condo, said she hoped Carter made good on his threat. Benson owes her a $450,000 judgment that he hasn’t paid, she said.

“I’m a nice person, but I’m glad to hear they’re going to go get him,” Tarnow said. “I want him to get what’s coming to him.”

The conversions violated a 1984 city law requiring apartment owners to modify their properties and pay a $7,000 conversion fee before the units could be sold.

Last week, real estate agent Thomas Bagshaw was sentenced to four months in prison, four months of home detention and ordered to help pay $261,000 in restitution for forging signatures on condo documents. Another real estate agent, Michael Cherney, was sentenced to a year of probation and fined $5,000.

Two investors in the scheme, Michael McDonnell and Jeffrey Crandall, will be sentenced March 20. Another investor, Howard C. Richey, has pleaded not guilty and is set for trial in August.

Houchen and an eighth defendant, Harvey DuBose, are expected to be sentenced after that.