Post by WPGISNHL on Jan 30, 2009 11:41:43 GMT -5
www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11584603?source=rss
Del Biaggio to plead guilty next week
By Julia Prodis Sulek
Posted: 01/29/2009 05:02:16 PM PST
The William "Boots" Del Biaggio III saga
The nearly yearlong story of fraud, deception and betrayal by Silicon Valley investor William "Boots" Del Biaggio III will enter its final chapter next week when the 41-year-old accused of financing his opulent homes, jet-setting gambling trips and pro hockey indulgences on the backs of his friends and business associates pleads guilty.
Del Biaggio, part of a respected San Jose banking family, will enter a guilty plea in federal court Wednesday, according to a letter sent to his victims from the U.S. Attorney's Office, which also said authorities may present a plea agreement at that time. The Mercury News obtained the letter Thursday.
While prosecutors charged him with securities fraud in December, it's unclear to which charges he will plead guilty. Sentencing will follow later.
Del Biaggio has already filed for bankruptcy and listed for sale his grand Almaden hills home, with a tennis court and gilded gates, for $4 million. His ownership interest in the Nashville Predators is also for sale.
Still, his victims — many of them prominent San Joseans —are hoping to see some restitution for the millions of dollars they have lost, as well as substantial prison time for the man many once considered a friend.
Whether they will be satisfied with the guilty plea "depends on what deal's been cut," said one victim Thursday, who lost his retirement savings to Del Biaggio. "He's ruined lots of lives."
The victim didn't want to be named, he said, because "it's been painful enough."
Many of the victims have filed lawsuits to try to recoup their losses.
Del Biaggio is expected to appear in U.S. District Court in San Francisco twice on Wednesday, first at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Maria-Elena James to determine the terms of pretrial release, if any. At 2:15 that afternoon, Del Biaggio is scheduled to plead guilty before Judge Charles R. Breyer.
Neither the U.S. Attorney's Office nor Del Biaggio's lawyer, Elliot Peters of San Francisco, would comment Thursday.
The case, whose details first surfaced in May, has devastated not only Del Biaggio's victims, but his family as well. His wife has filed for divorce and his father, Bill Del Biaggio, was forced to resign from Heritage Bank — which he co-founded with his son in the 1990s — after the bank filed a lawsuit in June accusing the younger Del Biaggio of fraudulently borrowing $4 million from the bank.
In the federal criminal case, Boots Del Biaggio is accused of using phony collateral to obtain $48 million in loans and $54.9 million in loan guarantees, most reportedly to buy an interest in the Nashville Predators hockey franchise. The single criminal count carries a maximum 25-year prison sentence, although a lighter sentence is expected as part of the plea deal.
In a separate civil case, filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Del Biaggio was accused of obtaining more than $65 million of his clients' money to use "as his personal checkbook" to buy the Predators, pay his mortgage and decorate his four homes, including two in San Jose, one in Santa Monica and one in Squaw Valley. That civil case included $19 million from private investors who put money into investment funds he managed. He used some of the investors' money, the SEC said, to pay people who had invested earlier — effectively a Ponzi scheme.
The SEC and Del Biaggio settled the civil case. Del Biaggio did not admit wrongdoing, but agreed to pay restitution in an amount still to be determined.
The bankruptcy case is still pending, with hundreds of millions of dollars in claims still unresolved.
Del Biaggio to plead guilty next week
By Julia Prodis Sulek
Posted: 01/29/2009 05:02:16 PM PST
The William "Boots" Del Biaggio III saga
The nearly yearlong story of fraud, deception and betrayal by Silicon Valley investor William "Boots" Del Biaggio III will enter its final chapter next week when the 41-year-old accused of financing his opulent homes, jet-setting gambling trips and pro hockey indulgences on the backs of his friends and business associates pleads guilty.
Del Biaggio, part of a respected San Jose banking family, will enter a guilty plea in federal court Wednesday, according to a letter sent to his victims from the U.S. Attorney's Office, which also said authorities may present a plea agreement at that time. The Mercury News obtained the letter Thursday.
While prosecutors charged him with securities fraud in December, it's unclear to which charges he will plead guilty. Sentencing will follow later.
Del Biaggio has already filed for bankruptcy and listed for sale his grand Almaden hills home, with a tennis court and gilded gates, for $4 million. His ownership interest in the Nashville Predators is also for sale.
Still, his victims — many of them prominent San Joseans —are hoping to see some restitution for the millions of dollars they have lost, as well as substantial prison time for the man many once considered a friend.
Whether they will be satisfied with the guilty plea "depends on what deal's been cut," said one victim Thursday, who lost his retirement savings to Del Biaggio. "He's ruined lots of lives."
The victim didn't want to be named, he said, because "it's been painful enough."
Many of the victims have filed lawsuits to try to recoup their losses.
Del Biaggio is expected to appear in U.S. District Court in San Francisco twice on Wednesday, first at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Maria-Elena James to determine the terms of pretrial release, if any. At 2:15 that afternoon, Del Biaggio is scheduled to plead guilty before Judge Charles R. Breyer.
Neither the U.S. Attorney's Office nor Del Biaggio's lawyer, Elliot Peters of San Francisco, would comment Thursday.
The case, whose details first surfaced in May, has devastated not only Del Biaggio's victims, but his family as well. His wife has filed for divorce and his father, Bill Del Biaggio, was forced to resign from Heritage Bank — which he co-founded with his son in the 1990s — after the bank filed a lawsuit in June accusing the younger Del Biaggio of fraudulently borrowing $4 million from the bank.
In the federal criminal case, Boots Del Biaggio is accused of using phony collateral to obtain $48 million in loans and $54.9 million in loan guarantees, most reportedly to buy an interest in the Nashville Predators hockey franchise. The single criminal count carries a maximum 25-year prison sentence, although a lighter sentence is expected as part of the plea deal.
In a separate civil case, filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Del Biaggio was accused of obtaining more than $65 million of his clients' money to use "as his personal checkbook" to buy the Predators, pay his mortgage and decorate his four homes, including two in San Jose, one in Santa Monica and one in Squaw Valley. That civil case included $19 million from private investors who put money into investment funds he managed. He used some of the investors' money, the SEC said, to pay people who had invested earlier — effectively a Ponzi scheme.
The SEC and Del Biaggio settled the civil case. Del Biaggio did not admit wrongdoing, but agreed to pay restitution in an amount still to be determined.
The bankruptcy case is still pending, with hundreds of millions of dollars in claims still unresolved.