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EFI ‘s Guth, Yaguda arrested on multiple fraud charges

October 16, 2008
Karen Guth rides from Pasolivo in the back seat of a sheriff's car.

Karen Guth rides from Pasolivo in the back seat of a sheriff's car.

By KAREN VELIE and DANIEL BLACKBURN

Beleaguered Estate Financial Inc. (EFI) principals Karen Guth and her son Joshua Yaguda were arrested Thursday morning on 26 felony charges.

A parade of a dozen San Luis Obispo County Sheriff, District Attorney, and state vehicles roared into the Pasolivo Olive grounds at 10:15 a.m. armed with arrest and search warrants.

Before they were handcuffed and taken away, Guth and Yaguda could be seen talking to investigators near a large barn on their property.

Investigators on the scene had no comment for reporters. Guth and Yaguda were taken into custody by a joint task force including agents from the state departments of Corporations and Real Estate and the FBI. They have been under investigation by numerous local, state and federal agencies for months following the failing of their company and the complaints of literally hundreds of alleged victims.

The pair was to be booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail and reportedly will spend three days incarcerated before arraignment. Authorities are seeking bail of $5 million for each, and the passports of both have been confiscated. A “source of bail” motion has been filed to allow time for authorities to ascertain that funds used for bail are not “tainted.”

A white collar crime enhancement has also been charged, which places their personal belongings, property, vehicles and other items under court jurisdiction.

Reporters waiting at the location were approached by Yaguda about an hour before the arrival of the arrest team.

Joshua Yaguda of EFI is taken into custody.

Joshua Yaguda of EFI is taken into custody.

Yaguda screamed and threatened violence, and then ripped a press credential off the shirt of one reporter. Deputies later returned the credential to the reporter.

Earlier in the morning, a reporter witnessed the arrival of two disposal trucks, which were loaded with boxes from the Pasolivo barn before departing.

The EFI fraud primarily targeted seniors. In cases where clients didn’t possess sufficient assets to qualify for the risky investment, sources claim EFI principals approved the transactions, nonetheless.

“Jan,” a computer technician who thought she and her husband would fare well and enjoy their retirement, now faces a loss of most or all of the more than $250,000 the pair invested with EFI. Jan has gone back to work as a sales clerk for minimum wage. Her husband, a retired artist, is searching for work.

“My husband is 81,” Jan said. “Today he is going to interview to wash dishes. He will probably wash dishes the rest of his life. It was everything we had. It is devastating for people.”

Enticed by the promise of generous returns on property-secured investments, approximately 3,400 investors have entrusted their nest eggs with EFI. In July, EFI’s portfolio contained more than $317 million in monies owed to investors. Of that, only $21,000 remained unencumbered as of a few months ago.

Hard money loans are based on the value of the underlying asset rather than borrowers’ credit rating. It works if the lender finances no more than 60 to 70 percent of the project and makes payments to contractors as the work progresses. EFI principals Karen Guth and her son Joshua Yaguda failed to follow through on these promises, which led to the Department of Real Estate stating that many of EFI’s practices were fraudulent.

Tags:, arrest, Estate Financial, fbi, fraud, paso robles


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By: Riley on 10/19/08

So the most immediate solution is to stop buying olive oil, force the mother and two little kids into a cave then sell off the business you destroy? Wouldn't it make more sense to allow Pasolivo to continue to be successful and if you get what you want, everything they have touched is sold, you may get a better return on your original investment. Be smart about this.

By: Joanne on 10/19/08

Met a couple today (Saturday) who went to Pasolivos for olive tasting. Yes, they were open! I asked if everyone seemed happy and her reply was yes. (A friend reminded me most employees are happier when the owners aren't around) I told her the story of the recent arrest and some reasons for the arrest. They were stunned. The woman said she's glad they didn't buy anything. She added they really didn't like their products anyway. Good!


My real point is 'THEY WERE OPEN FOR BUSINESS?????' I suppose Karen and Josh are hoping the general public doesn't notice they are missing. Oh brother!


Please don't forget to tell everyone you know about the arrest of Pasolivo's (former Estate Financial Inc.) owners. I feel their customers should be well informed.


By: TheRealRiley on 10/18/08

[quote]If you have investments in stocks/401k you have lost a ton of money. If you own a home you have lost tons of money. We are no different than the EFI investors in many ways.

Vial criminals come in many forms.[/quote]


Not exactly. You don't 'lose' unless you actually sell for less than your cost (or basis). If you own a home you haven't sold, well, you haven't 'lost', have you?


And it's 'vile'.

By: isntgreedgood on 10/18/08

Hello?

This is a very strange response. I think I made it clear that I find vengeful thinking to be counter-productive. The investors are angry and rightfully so, but I was only asking whether any of them had stopped to think about their own decisions and whether they bore any resemblance to Joshua Yaguda. I would argue that he is not the pariah they make him out to be and that the root of the problem, locally and globally, is a culture of greed. Some were caught up more than others.

The reality is that all of us who have seen the value of our houses plummet (yes, we've lost money too) can thank the frenzied speculative building party that EFI and it's investors helped to fuel. And yet I am NOT looking for revenge. I'm raising the possibility that the responsibility is shared and that there are lessons to be learned. I'm asking for consideration for the innocent Yaguda children and I find it sad and distasteful that someone on this site has so much toxic anger that they would write off elementary school children as somehow evil and tainted. That is vengeful.


If we want to expose the true problem, let's investigate the politicians and public servants who played a part in this shell game. They have a responsibility to act on the behalf of the entire community and are not held accountable. I hope Joshua Yaguda sings like a bird. THAT could get interesting.


I'm not a socialist but there do seem to be those who find capitalism and social responsibility to be mutually exclusive. Is that not how we get into these messes?


Better a soapbox than a guillotine.


(And, given one part of your response – Mr/Ms Hello, I really question the integrity of this site as a news source.)


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By: hello on 10/18/08

It's amazing some people can never get off their soap box. In the light of many people suffering from losing their investments and the criminals who mismanaged their money facing prison time, this has turned in to a losing situation for everyone involved. Except, it would seem, "isntgreedgood" has some sort satisfaction in revenge on EFI for investing in the Ramada Dr project (or is it just revenge on Joshua Yaguda for standing up in support of the project?) and revenge on the investors for hoping to make a reasonable investment, but which didn't support your socially correct standards. As was pointed out, the Fund included hundreds of projects – investors can't be expected to visit each one before investing in the company to determine if it is a socially responsible project – and by who's standards?. And, even if it was, what difference would that make now? I smell a socialist, not a capitalist. Revenge is just as sour an attribute as greed. It's time to get off your soap box and move on.

By: Harlow on 10/17/08

As nospinzone said, this will take years to get thru. Unfortunately most of the investors don't have that to spare. Hopefully, these crooks will be spending that time waiting in a filthy jail and not allowed bail and when finally released someday , be made to work until every penny is repaid until they meet their maker and answer to that Higher Power. Might get WARM!

By: Harlow on 10/17/08

In response to isntgreedgood , the "innocent" Yaguda children were RAISED by these crooks. The apple does not fall far from the tree , as they say. If we are talking "environment", we need to discuss population control. The BEST thing one can do for the environment is NOT reproduce. Housing will always be needed for those that ALREADY exist. So building is NOT the issue here.And to Clarks,When one pays an "expert" for a service, one expects and should receive that service. Most of these folks are not rich. They are retired living on a fixed income. That is irrelevant anyway.

By: Jim on 10/17/08

Hotdog:

Excellent…!

Thanks for taking the time to post this…

By: hotdog on 10/17/08

Not small potatoes. There is probably over $500 million ripped off by the so far four failed incompetent and fraudulent crooks in the TD lending business, along with their crooked borrowers (listening, KG?).


Obviously a bunch of the bloggers jumped in without looking at the previous comments, many of which already responded to their 'issues'. I guess many here just love to see their words in print, no matter if they make sense or repeat previous discussions.


The crooks are the brokers. The victims (of fraud, deception and lies by the brokers; of incompetence, neglect and lack of oversight of established procedures by the State regulatory agencies; and of now by slow prosecution of crimes by law enforcement) are the lenders. There was behind the scenes complicity (intentional or not) by title companies) and general neglect of this whole saga by public political, legal and legislative entities. A perfect storm, unleashed on a segment of society that is not generally able to cope with these issues. Many are too old to ever recover from the theft, they will spend the rest of their lives cascading down from what they thought was going to be a reasonably comfortable retirement.

Those who embrace any concern for the criminals, who feel some personal glee in blaming the victims, who continue to parrot such short sighted notions are out of touch.

The charges listed in the numerous articles about EFI will be repeated with Hurst. They are obvious and will stick. The long delay in arrests just represents the process in gathering sufficient evidence to convict these human slime.

When we buy tires, get medicine or invest we are forced to trust someone and take their advice. We don't know anything about tires or medicines. That is part of the process. Should we be blamed for being 'greedy' if those choices don't work out? People who are licensed by the State are assumed competent and honest-big joke in this case.

Getting 12% for TD loans is not a lot. Most money is basically worth close to 5%. Inflation is usually around 4%. That means just to stay even one has to make around 9% on their money. That leaves about 3% profit on these loans, big deal. Take out taxes, consider these were represented as low or no risk, add in the numerous protections and supposed oversight by the State (none of which came true)-where is the greed, where is the stupidity?


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By: Cindy on 10/17/08

Does anyone know if assault charges are included in Josh Yaguda's crimes? It sounds like he ripped Dan's press badge off his shirt. Thats an assault.

By: isntgreedgood on 10/17/08

I'm not sure what you mean by environmental correctedness but, judging from your tone, I doubt that there will be much idea exchange in responding.


I can't imagine who would say they don't want to take care of our environment but it really is a segue from my point. I didn't say that nothing should be built on a given piece of land. Only that everyone has a responsibility to the greater community to make wise choices in what gets built and where and in how they support the direction in which the community/country is going . Over and over we see people who are willing to bleed all over everyone else in order to get where they feel they deserve to be. Then they encounter someone who is willing to do the same yet has a greater blood supply so they cry foul because they get soiled. Look at the national picture for a view of what unbridled greed will do.


I feel for the loss to individual investors and I feel for the losses all of us are suffering from the culture of greed that has dominated this country for far too long. We can spit nails and point fingers and cry for even more bleeding but the fact remains that there is a little bit of responsibility for these messes in all of us. When we acknowledge that, maybe we are on the road to leaving something to our children far more valuable than money or buildable land.

By: Laura on 10/17/08

I wonder how folks like Jay Miller and Kelly Gearhart are taking all this news? I imagine that Kelly will "take off" to Ohio ASAP, but they'll still catch up to him. I wonder if they are making sure that they know the where abouts of Jay Miller? It appears that there were some interesting banking relationships involved with all this and at least one Title Company. I wonder, wonder, wonder….


By: Black_Copter_Pilot on 10/17/08

Hey Insngreedgood


When you invest in the FUND, you don't get to pick your specific investment. Most of the investors with EFI put their money in the FUND. Nice try on the transfer of "environmrntal correctness". My suggestion to those that want to be environmentally correct is to buy the real estate in qustion and themn watch the weeds grow


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By: isntgreedgood on 10/17/08

Is it not possible that Mr Yaguda got caught up in the same greed and naivete of some of the investors? White collar crime is wrong yet rampant and often goes unpunished. I would guess that many who are outraged by this have stood by with apathy as the national coffers have been raided over and over again. Some of them likely voted the raiders into office twice!


No one can be without empathy for those who lost their investments – especially the seniors who may have understood less. But at the same time, I wonder how many of the investors stopped to think about what their own greed might be doing to the communities where these abysmal projects where being built. The Ramada Mixed-Use project had 12-14 million thrown into it and it was a train wreck for the community of Templeton. Did anyone care that a fat return on their investment would have meant a boatload of housing wedged between the freeway and the railroad tracks? Or that a prime piece of commercial land was slated to be occupied largely by storage units with minimal job generation and negligible tax benefit to the community?

Again, I feel for those of you who lost but I believe in trying to assess how my behavior might impact those around me. Have these investors held themselves to that standard? And I can't help but feel for the innocent children in the Yaguda family who don't deserve the mud-slinging and the glee.

By: Riley on 10/17/08

ok, I stand corrected, humiliated, wrong, lessee what else can we tack on. I'm not in the "business of questioning motives" nor was I being apologetic. There are many who contribute with no agenda or motive. Hopefully you know folks like that…real.

By: TheRealRiley on 10/17/08

Riley, do you really think the Department of Corporations, the Department of Real Estate, the FBI, the IRS, and the SLO County DA's office have all conspired to 'humiliate' this pair?


You seem to be in the business of questioning motives for their arrest. I question the motives for your apologetics.


This has been coming for a long time with these two. I don't understand how anybody who knew them, or their operation, even tangentially, could invest with them.


However, the victims are not the guilty parties. Greedy and naive maybe, but not guilty, and deserve to be made whole. Whether that will happen to any extent remains to be seen.

By: Stefan on 10/17/08

Arrested! Woot! \\o/ Let the trials begin!


To NSZ: Perhaps you are thinking of Peter Lynch "I like buying companies that can be run by monkeys – because one day they will be."

By: Laura on 10/17/08

I recall the 80's and early 90's when a 6 month CD paid 10% interest. Investing in real estate with a 12% return is a reasonable investment particularly when the funds are fractionally disbursed according to the work in process/progress. This "should have been an excellent investment". The market down turn certainly would have had an effect on the return on investment (12%) and possibly another 10-20% of the principal but that should have been the "absolute worst" case

scenario for a "few" investors.


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By: Riley on 10/17/08

I'd be lying to have thought I wouldn't be accused of something by asking some questions and make some comments that didn't fit the tone of some writers. "Jim" says it honestly and directly. No I'm not family, a good friend or a co-hort. To have an opinion or question, one doesn't need to be an insider or outsider. I feel great sympathy for all who lost their hard earned money, especially if they were duped. I'm just not ready to stone people in the public square…but then, maybe this type of thing wouldn't happen as much if we could do just that…

By: AuntMillie on 10/17/08

The apparent sympathy being expressed by recent bloggers is disheartening for those of us who have been anxiously awaiting their incarceration.How nice and polite it would have been to allow them to turn themselves in and post bail with investor money before grabbing their passports and heading to Costa Rico to hang out with Kennedy and plan their next scam. How civilized it would have been to call and let them know that the other shoe was about to drop. Much more civilized than the treatment we have received from them – from their lying and screaming of obscenities, from their hangups, from their refusals to answer e-mails or provide the documentation necessary to secure our investments. Yessir, they surely deserved to be treated like the upstanding in-your-face, nose-thumbing community members that they are. They were too smug and arrogant to think that they would be caught. Surprise!

By: ThomasPaine on 10/17/08

Sure, blame the victims, that's the easy way out. Immoral but easy.

It will be interesting to see what kind of sentence these people will receive when and if they are convicted.

If you rob a bank or a gas station you can get 20 years or more. How much time do you get for stealing millions?

By: Cindy on 10/17/08

TO NSZ,

I don't see where a 12% anticipated return on an investment is so greedy. It wasn't all that long ago that people were receiving a 10% annual return on a bank CD. Granted the CD's were FDIC insured however a trust deed on real estate has always been a good bet. Thats why the majority of Americans have their largest investment in their homes. The investment plan was more than viable if it had been adhered to. We Citizens have been lead to believe that there are agencies that oversee these lending corporations, we also believe that title companies are honest (have to be honest) and that there are checks and balances. The fact is that there is next to no oversight and our tax dollars are paying for a bunch of "cushy" government jobs. Its all been one big swindle in my opinion. I don't see these investors as greedy and they wouldn't have lost their money if everyone had been honest and done their jobs. Too bad it took this look for our government to stick a finger in the dike.

By: CarolAnnRiley on 10/17/08

Riley wants to know why Karen and Josh weren't allowed to turn themselves in! Riley wonders if the public arrest was intended to bring humiliation upon the culprits. I think that law enforcement didn't want to give them a chance to grab a bank bag and take the same route as Linda Kennedy. Riley, you won't find any empathy for the EFI criminals apart from the sentiment allotted them by their "good friends", "cohorts" & 'family". Which one are you?

By: Riley on 10/17/08

Did I invest, no, it was too risky for my blood (and my age). I have sympathy for those who lost money, more than a few are friends.


I have read for months the anger, hatred expressed by many, and at such a personal level against Guth/Yaguda. The current economic situation only fuels the helplessness and eagerness to be the judge and jury. These parties have sure been demonized. Let the legal system do its job. The added stress, hatred and mob mentality will not make you happier or healthier. Hopefully we all live long enough for things to turn around locally and nationally.

One question, why weren't Guth/Yaguda allowed to turn themselves in? Was this part of a humiliation process deemed necessary by someone? Current issues have white collar crime suspects being treated like violent criminal suspects. Wait, they didn't have swat out there did they? Only reporters!


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By: BringInTheTrashQuick on 10/17/08

Many thanks to Karen and Dan for their early and continued reporting of this Estate Financial mess. We investors owe them a debt of gratitude to be sure. Without their reporting we would most likely still be floundering and Karen and Josh would be wining and dining and pouring their world famous olive oil. I sent $50 through PayPal to CalCoast last night and urge you to do the same.

By: MyThoughts on 10/17/08

Yo ClarkeS :


Logic like yours is ridiculous!


Why don't you stand on Wall Street and spew your "blame the investor" baloney to all the greedy, dishonest execs who are packing up their golden parachutes.

By: hacy on 10/17/08

Finally, those of us who were interviewed these past months knew it was coming. Now from what the Special Agents told us last week, another major case is being done against another local builder developer who recently lost his State Builders license and his private jets were taken and he has defaulted on millions of loans as well, so albeit slow justice is coming. This builder and his partners are now the target of a probe into Bank Fraud, Wire Fraud, Loan Application and Loan fraud, and bilking homeowners who bought his defective homes. But if it was not for the FBI & IRS and some other Federal people none of this would have happened this information sat on our local DA's desk gathering dust until the Fed's got involved. For those who lost in the Winery business in Templeton of VERDOT Gp, LLC and SLO-HAAS, LLC justice is coming do NOT be fearful contact the IRS-CID, and FBI they are doing something and you banking people who concealed the scam you will get your turn to tell a Jury why this all happened.

By: hotdog on 10/17/08

ClarkS-I will correct you, because you are wrong.

Comments like yours have shown up for months in the blogs following these types of articles on the various crooks in the north county-21st Century, RPL. EFI and maybe the worst-Hurst Financial.

You are blaming the victims, victims of fraud! Is that OK in your book? The authorities have taken way too long, but finally gathered sufficient evidence that should result in convictions, in their estimation. The over 3,000 victims, from gardeners to lawyers, were all ripped off by sophisticated ponzi scheme artists. It is estimated that over $500 million has been lost to these crooks.

Sure, many lenders were too trusting. But these loans, if managed as they were supposed to be, were not that risky. And they were often portrayed as 'NO RISK', at least by Hurst Financial (I will send a pic of their now defunct website to anyone interested-you can contact me at rippedoffinvestor@yahoo.com).

Many of the investors invested with these companies for years, successfully. But for the last few years the brokers got greedy, sloppy, and with certain crooked borrowers (Kelly, you're next) they managed to reconvey trust deeds away from the lenders and pile on new loans. This was enabled by sloppy work on the part of certain title companies. It was a perfect scam-for a while. The crashing housing market exposed the scam, it DID NOT create the trauma. That was all intentionally done by these loan brokers.

Many of the victims are losing their homes, many elderly are looking for work after a lifetime of saving and placing their trust in these bums.

Before you throw rocks at the victims consider the issues. Making unwise loans, being duped by unscrupulous brokers, assuming the authorities would actually do their job in providing oversight as called for in the regulations governing these brokers-these are the crimes of the lenders. The crimes of the brokers are fraud and predatory practices. Read the articles, and the charges.

If your cute little daughter went downtown in sexy clothes and was raped, would you blame her? She might have been unwise, but the crime is the rape. Same damn thing here so get off the silly 'blame the victim' gig and direct your contempt where it belongs-with the crooks.


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By: Julie on 10/17/08

Clark, obviously you are a newbie to this topic. To sum it up, Karen and Joshua helped themselves to investor money and didn't pay it back. They made loans to borrowers when (evidence is mounding against them) they didn't have enough money in the first place – all to make fees/points up front which were gleefully put into the pocket lining of Guth and Yaguda. A way of shifting investor money directly to EFI and then to their pockets(rob, rob, rob.). Later they ruin the borrowers projects by not giving the borrowers the money they promised. Oh, and then they try to foreclose on them. Sound fair?


They also reconveyed property back to EFI without telling the investors on those projects, thus removing the investor's security. I heard some of this acquired EFI property was used to borrow from the bank.


So loose the thought of a 'downturn in the market.' I strongly feel the two indicted today were indicted for REAL fraud!

By: Julie on 10/17/08

With this done, time to go after her 'associates' who allowed this activity to go on for as long as it did. In my opinion (I can't be certain), D'Amico, Fetyco, Don Vaughn, Mel, Darla Hansen, Charles Applebaum and those snot nosed kids Laura Paulsen and Lupe. Did I forget someone? Also, let's not forget the family members of the above mentioned who may have participated. Karen had three kids, do they have our money? This is just a start. Please help yourselves by reporting all you know to the DA office. This investigation will be ongoing for a while. So get in there and show them any paperwork you feel is 'off' from your Estate Financial investment. Yes, every clue helps!

By: ClarkS on 10/17/08

how is it that we're assuming the investors are so innocent?


I assume that they were made well aware that these types of investments are incredibly risky…is this just a case of the rich taking out their frustrations on the company that they chose to put their money into? If that's the case, who's crime is this?


Why should Guth/Yaguda be tossed in jail?…did the the investors do the appropriate homework?


Given the current economy, I have a hard time believing the crash of Estate Financial Inc. is that big of a surprise.


Correct me if I'm wrong please…I'm just trying to make sense of all this.

By: Joe on 10/17/08

Oh dear great A'tuin… Observer, get your fountainhead out of your latent brokeback arse.


Hope they can start looking into the "local" telecommunication company scams next.


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By: HonestyPlanet on 10/16/08

Better late then never. While there's likely not many "investors" who are still in denial, now would be a great time to share all of your experiences with the prosecuting authorities (if you haven't already). Did you take someone's advise and "roll" your note(s) into the fund? Was your note and/or trust deed different than the copies/forms as presented in the original investment proposal? Did you invest in the fund during or after September of 2007? Were you presented documents for "buying" out your fund membership? If the answer is "yes" to any of these questions, or you're wondering about something else that seems strange in retrospect…..you need to let the District Attorney know the facts….It's bad enough that many people are facing the loss of their life savings, don't make it worse by depriving the investigators/prosecutors of the evidence they need to make these charges stick.

By: Observer on 10/16/08

I have a couple of questions…


As something of a civil libertarian, I want to know exactly how/why reporters were on the scene "about an hour" BEFORE the law enforcement folks arrived. Since you folks are about EXPOSING everything, how about EXPOSING the leaks you received (perhaps as much as a day in advance) from (I assume) law enforcement sources. C'mon, tell us everything! You are "Central Coast UNCOVERED!" UNCOVER this for us! This is (criminal) corruption in our local legal system!?!? This could easily play to their defense ("the law enforcement community was biased against us!") No sense helping EFI folks with their defense, huh?


And the obvious (although yet to be addressed) question about property rights…It's not up to us on this blog to determine who's at fault…the evil mom, the subservient son, both, neither… that will all get sorted out by folks (with more objective motives than we have) in the court system. Uuhhhmmm, OH yes, the property rights question I started with…were these reporters ON the property…PRIVATE property? By the Yaguda's or Guth's homes? Peeking into their windows? Poking around the "big barn?" If reporters (or anyone else) made their way onto my humble ranchita (past gates, closed signs, or other indicators that any common folk would construe to indicate that their business/property is not OPEN for business) I would react the same way. You might well have eaten a "knuckle sandwich" for breakfast that morning had you come to my property in the same manner.


Whether or not Guth/Yaguda are crooks, you certainly are criminals if you trespassed on private property (with prior – unauthorized inforation from the state) then cry indignation for your treatment.


The law is the law.


I want to see this whole mess straitened out fairly and honestly, however – the way this is being reported here adds evidence to the defense of Guth/Yaguda should they build a neg-bias defense.


Report on the news, don't try to be a part of the news. Just my $.02.

By: hotdog on 10/16/08

The criminals at Hurst, Jay Miller and Courtney Brard are next. And hopefully Gearhart will be spending the next 60 years busting up rocks on a chain gang too.

And Yeah, bring Linda Kennedy back for some justice.

It would be cool to send these crooks out as indentured servants to their victims, sitting in a cell is too easy.

By: tblonde on 10/16/08

Hey Kelly and Jay you're next!!!!

By: pismoclam on 10/16/08

Now if we could only find Linda Kennedy (21st Century) and perp walk her. Maybe call DOG and bring her back from Costa Rica. hehehehehehe

By: Joe on 10/16/08

Oooh cry more Jim.


The people who need some justice would be the 81 year old with a new career as a dishwasher.


This would have been a well orchestrated mix of pump and dump and a ponzi scheme. I'd like to see the original advertisement- to call- to proposal ratios to guess the number of people who walked away. (IE: the smart people)


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By: DanBlackburn on 10/16/08

Wiseguy —


This incident was not played heavily in this story because, frankly, I was not part of this story. Yaguda screamed at me, punched his fist toward my face, grabbed my shirt and ripped my press pass from my collar. He said he was calling the sheriff. I told him he needn't bother, because they already were on their way. He then stalked off while shouting obscenities. This was reported to a sheriff's deputy by Yaguda. The incident scared Karen more than me. Usually this kind of story would be reported in a sidebar. Consider this your sidebar. As to your constructive comments, sometimes brevity is best. Sometimes not.

By: WiseGuy on 10/16/08

Karen and Dan, would you please be more specific in your stories, for instance, when you say that Yaguda threatened a reporter, who are you talking about? Yourself? A reporter from The Tribune? Why keep these details a secret? You suggest there were multiple reporters at the scene, but how many? Two or three? A dozen? You mention that Yaguda "threatened violence". Like what?


These types of points that your stories often leave out, plus all the typical quoting of anonymous or minimally identified sources that detracts from the value and authority of your reporting, in my opinion. In your stories the reader is often left feeling that vital parts of the story are being held back for some mysterious reason. It's like you want to hold onto some sort of insider information and keep it from your readers. That's not a good impression for a reporter to leave with a reader.


But, with this said, you know I support your continued efforts to raise the level of reporting in this community.

Thank you.

By: MyThoughts on 10/16/08

Karen and Dan:


I am sending you 50 dollars to support your website because if it wasn't for you who knows how long the stealing from investors would have gone on.


You lifted the rock and exposed the bugs under the rock.


I hope the rest of your readers will contribute and help support your hard work.


You are the only ones in the press willing to do hard hitting investigative reporting and my hat is off to you.


By: MyThoughts on 10/16/08

Great Job !!! Next stop, Kelly Gearhart's house.

By: Jim on 10/16/08

As an "investor" with Estate Financial… this is most welcome news…

I hope that they are tried… and if found guilty as I believe they are… get prison time commensurate with their evil deeds…

I still find it incredible… that these two people… have caused so much harm to so many people that trusted them…

By: Newsome on 10/16/08

More excellent reporting! Thanks.


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