Friday, May. 15, 2009
After months in jail, pair plead not guilty to fraud
Executives of the former securities firm face charges of defrauding investors of millions
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closeAfter sitting in jail without raising bail since their arrest in October, Estate Financial principals Karen Guth and Joshua Yaguda pleaded not guilty Friday to charges they defrauded investors of millions of dollars.
Defense attorney Dyke Huish announced the decision. Guth, Yaguda, and about 55 observers, mostly investors in Estate Financial’s real estate securities, were in Superior Court to hear their pleas. “We are here to make sure justice gets done,” said John Childers, one of Estate Financial’s investors at the hearing. He and his wife Colleen may have lost an estimated $600,000 in their dealings with the Paso Robles hard-money real estate lending company. Guth, president of the now-bankrupt Estate Financial, has been in jail on charges of fraud in her business dealings, along with Yaguda, her son. The two controlled about $340 million worth of real estate projects on behalf of 3,000 investors, according to the latest estimate by the bankruptcy trustees.
The pleas came after the prosecution and defense lawyers met with Superior Court Judge Jac Crawford in his chambers for about three hours Friday afternoon. What they discussed was not disclosed.
In a short conference with reporters and investors after the hearing, Deputy District Attorney Steve von Dohlen said the not-guilty pleas were standard procedure.
Von Dohlen said it was not appropriate to talk about whether a plea bargain had been discussed.
Guth and Yaguda will return to court May 22 for a preliminary pretrial conference. The preliminary hearing, when the prosecution will put forth evidence to warrant going to trial, was set for June 8.
The suspects remain in County Jail. Earlier this year their bail stood at $5 million apiece.
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