Front Page  »  

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.


Loading...
Subjects:         
Related:


30 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

This is pretty sad considering how much was stolen and the fact that some people were ruined.


Something is wrong with a DA Office that will hammer a methhead who steals 20 bucks out of the 7-11 cash register, yet people like Guth and Yaguda who make over 300 million of investors monies go by-by, get off pretty damn easy.


As for me I will never vote for Jerry Shea again. In my thinking se’s almost as culpable as the two bozos who have fallen from grace.


0

If you are going to steal, steal BIG.


0

…and after his probation is up, anyone wanna bet he’ll be out of the country?


Permanently revoke his passport…he’s a financial terrorist.


0

I bet they stashed some money too. They had plenty of opportunity and time to do it between the time they were being investigated and the time they were incarcerated. I agree with typo when she say’s he should be on probation/parole the rest of his life.


0

Sorry Cindy, I have to disagree with you on the probation for life deal. I think he should have to pay restitution for life but I don’t want my tax dollars paying some lazy probation officer to check on him once every two weeks for life.


0

Word is Obama hired him to replace Geithner.


0

I just hope the sullied reputation these crooks enjoy follows them for the rest of their lives. Karma’s a bitch.


0

We don’t’ have enough money to keep non violent offenders in prison. Perhaps now we can get him to start working to make restitution instead of paying for him to get great medical care and 3 square meals. Now we won’t have to pay for him. The only thing that I disagree with is that this guy should be on strict probation for the rest of his life or until he has paid back the people he has harmed. He’ll never be able to pay back what he did but something is better than nothing so IMO he should remain on probation so he can’t rip anyone else off.


I wonder how much it cost per day now to house these guys in our prisons.


0

I wonder how many of YOUR tax dollars it would take to keep him on probation for life rather than mine. Restitution, yes.


0

It cost much more to keep him in prison. We are all victims to the cost that it takes to house these thieves. Why do we keep biting off our noses to spite our faces. I can’t stand thieves, they are low lives and they need to be punished. But it makes more sense to have them make a living and pay back as much as possible towards their debt to society. This guy could be working and the state. could be taking half of his paychecks, he could be cleaning the roads and helping the homeless. But instead he’s in jail getting his teeth done, getting all of his medical needs met, eating, roof over his head, going to therapy and WE are paying for it. This guy is getting better medical care than I am and he’s not paying a dime for it, I resent that. Prison is for people that are a danger to society, it’s there to keep us safe not for vengeance.


0

anybody out there still believe crime doesn’t pay? What a joke. Sends a great message to our young people who are already so entitled, they probably think we owe them the ability to steal from others.


0

He will be released after serving 3 1/2 years for defrauding the elderly (highest proportion of investors) out of $317,000,000 !! He should have got more like 20 years but here is the rub :


“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.”


They were only charged and found guilty for stealing/defrauding investors of 1% of the total take!! What was up with that ?? Looks like our DA took the easy way out.


0

Well it’s no wonder why Kelly Gearhart hasn’t been arrested.

Not worth the time or money to force a conviction on him.

Just the same, when they finally catch the Geezer Bandit he’ll most likely do 20 years in prison after enhancements for using a pistol in the commission of his crimes.

Use a gun and you’re done; Use bankers, politicians, and pen and ink defrauding investors and you are good to go after a short parole…Go figure!


0

So True, I guess it’s all about how honest a thief is. If you smile, lie and befriend your victim you’re not as guilty as the honest guy (honest about his intentions) that sticks a gun in your face and gets it over with.


0

For God’s sake don’t get caught distributing medical cannibis to a cancer patient! $500,000 bail to start!


0

No, that would be 25 k and a 75k boost if you have a child even if she is a straight A student from what I heard.


0

… and how much of the $317 million will Yaguda and Guth be required to pay back? Josh Yaguda should not be able to buy a pack of cigarettes until he has made whole all of the investors who lost their shirts due to the criminal behavior that led to the arrests of him and his mother, IMO.


0
1 2