Estate Financial felon getting out of prison early

December 5, 2011

Karen Guth and Joshua Yaguda

A principal in a fraudulent $3oo million investment scheme he ran out of the Estate Financial Inc. office in Paso Robles, which financially ruined thousands of people, is slated to be released after serving a little more than three years in prison, according to a Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation notice of release.

After spending three years and four months of an eight year sentence, Joshua Yaguda, 43, is to be released under San Luis Obispo County Probation supervision on Feb. 28, 2012. If he commits no further violations while on probation, he will likely be released after one year by statute, said Jim Salio, SLO County chief probation officer.

San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Jac Crawford sentenced Estate Financial, Inc. principal Yaguda to eight years and his mother Karen Guth to 12 years on Dec. 7, 2009. The court credited Yaguda with time served in San Luis Obispo County Jail following his Oct. 16, 2008 arrest.

Yaguda and Guth plead guilty to fraudulently selling securities without the proper licenses, lying to investors and stealing or destroying property worth $3.2 million.

Even so, EFI’s portfolio contained more than $317 million in monies owed to investors when the company filed bankruptcy in 2008. Of that, only $21,000 was held free and clear.

Guth and Yaguda illegally used investor monies contracted to fund construction projects to fund other businesses they owned, to pay investors for non-related projects, and to cover operating expenses.

Joshua Yaguda of EFI is taken into custody.


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Like my friend from Long Beach used to say, “These guys need to do the concrete cakewalk off the Toledo Pier….”


I agreed with SanSimeonSam ……………… If this man had done to me what he did to so many – I would view his early release as a boon and would begin making plans! Wife and kids or no wife and kids!


This is something that I struggle with in the early morning hours when I can’t sleep… although I accept the responsibility of having “invested” my life savings with this miscreant… he repeated lied to me… and has never shown any remorse for his actions… some days I do my best to try and forgive and forget (though the forgetting is really hard)… I suppose that the bottom line for me is that I don’t want to add more negativeness to my life…


Even if Josh’s wife knew what was going on she can’t be happy with the humiliation and embarrassment that she had to endure during the last five years. Certainly the two little girls had no idea of their father’s criminal activities. If you were taunted at school and ostracized like they have been would you forgive the parent that caused you humiliation? Thanks to Estate Financial I have not been able to use my savings to pay for graduate school for my daughter and I don’t think she is ever going to forgive me for that.


When I confronted Josh at the Estate Financial offices and he hid on the stairs while telling the secretary what to say to me I thought Josh is a person with no courage. I doubt he has the heart to stay in Paso so the little girls will be uprooted to another county or state and that alone is enough to create hostility. He will feel the blow back from the scars he has inflicted on his family.


Your daughter has nothing to forgive you for.


His initial sentence was a joke… getting out this early is shameful… there seems to be very little justice in this matter…!


District Attorneys Shea and Gran are no doubt still removing the egg on their faces from the way they originally ignored our charges in the Meek 1st Amendment fraud brought against Gearhart attorney and partner Robert Grigger Jones Now that our case is at the Federal level investigated by the FBI and IRS the DA”S office in SLO is no doubt somewhat embarrassed. Too bad. Ignoring evidence that is overwhelming and obvious is a black mark on the DA’s offices in SLO. I was in Manhattan last week meeting with a reporter from a major news agency, as well as two meetings with a field agent in New York just to insure things would be moving forward and not “brushed under the rug” TENACIOUS? Yep, that’s me. And not to worry because the lights are focused on Central California and not just on Jay Miller, Kelly and Tamara Gearhart and Grigger jones. Major banks, attorneys and a certain politician who thought he was immuned for a long time. Several other players are involved. This is really big! VIDEO Be patient!


LOL, Nanci I love it, especially the end. Hey Grigger did you hear that, “you’re screwed”! This case is very complex and a person would have to have been following it (almost step by step) to fully grasp all the complications that have evolved over the years. I’m glad I followed it. For those who get lost at times while watching this video, just enjoy it and know that Nanci is right on target here.


Best to you Nanci, again – Gotta love that last line………


Not trying to troll here, but I would urge patience to those of you who are eager to see Gearhart brought to justice. Feds wouldn’t have taken on the case if it weren’t a slam dunk, and, boy, are they being thorough! I’m pretty sure that if their investigation centered on Kelly alone – and didn’t splinter off onto city officials, , lenders, title signers, etc. – we’d have heard something by now.


In a way Gearhart has it tougher than Josh. Josh will be out of prison and take what ever he stashed out of the country. End of story. Kelly has all this hanging over his head, never knowing what is coming and I would think unable to put it behind him.

The only thing Josh won’t be able to put behind him is the way he ruined the lives of his wife and

daughters. There is a pretty good chance these women won’t let him forget that he was too weak and

sick an individual to resist going along with the machinations of his mommy.


I got my check from Brad Sharp yesterday. Brad, the bankruptcy trustee is a wizard. He turned my $154,00.00 investment into a $3,700.00 investment. With the help of Robin Ribblet, Brad put way more money in his pocket than Josh ever thought about and thanks to the protection of the court system, Brad has nothing to worry about but

how to maximize the favors he earned in selling off the Estate Financial Assets. Way to go Brad. You

were able to ruin people and enrich yourself without worrying about the law.


I too received my check from EFMF: $9K out of $400K “invested”… about two percent… do you really think that Yaguda’s wife didn’t know about what was going on… for three years or more… I thought that she had full knowledge… it would be nice to know if that wasn’t so…


Sadly they are laughing all the way to the bank. And so are their lawyers. File a civil suit and be a thorn in their sides for as long as you can.


If i had been one of those ruined by these folks i would welcome their early release