REGION: Couple accused of stealing $1.5 million from elderly

Victims duped in investment scam, prosecutor says

By TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer | Sunday, May 4, 2008 5:49 PM PDT ∞

VISTA ---- An Escondido couple convicted last week of bilking an elderly widow in Orange County now face charges they cheated 30 people in San Diego County, many of them senior citizens, out of a total of more than $1.5 million.

Janet Sue Reiswig and her husband, Ronald Edward Reiswig, face 79 charges, including conspiracy, fraud and 18 counts of elder abuse, for what prosecutors allege was a scheme to trick investors into forking over funds for short-term certificate of deposit investments, then taking the money for personal use.

They have not yet been arraigned; they are in an Orange County jail awaiting sentencing in the case there.

The San Diego County case is by far the largest one the county district attorney's office has brought out of its Vista branch since establishing an Economic Crimes Unit there about two years ago, said Deputy District Attorney Anna Winn, who is prosecuting the case.

Many of the alleged victims live in North County, stretching from Encinitas to Fallbrook, she said. And many are not homeowners, but rather live in apartments and mobile homes. One of them has since died, she said.

One East County woman, who is 76, said Friday she lost $63,000 to the alleged investment scam. It was nearly everything she had saved, after a lifetime of setting aside $25, maybe $50, a month.

Now, she said, she is reduced to living on her Social Security check, which is less than $1,000 a month, to cover gas, food and rent. Money is so tight, she said, that she quit going to church most days of the week because gas is too expensive.

The woman, who said she suffers from arthritis, is embarrassed, and has told only three friends of the loss. She said she found herself in tears at the dentist office when she couldn't pay for needed fillings.

The woman only learned of the alleged scam in January when an investigator with the district attorney's office knocked on her door.

"We have to get our money back, we just have to," said the woman, who asked that her name not be used. "What am I going to do? I'll run out of money, I certainly will."

Winn said the government seized the Reiswigs' accounts, and were able to recover about $1.5 million. With at least $2 million in losses to victims in San Diego and Orange counties, not everyone will get all their money back.

But most of the victims, she said, will recoup some of their losses.

"In the majority of the cases, the money is gone," Winn said. "The victims are very rarely reimbursed. It is going to be a big thrill to give the money back."

Details of the allegations in the local case against the Reiswigs come from an April 4 criminal complaint and other court documents from investigators.

The Reiswigs placed ads in a local newspaper, promising short-term CD investments with high rates of return.

Janet Reiswig, 64, allegedly met with more than two dozen investors in the Rancho Bernardo and La Jolla offices of their company, US America Inc.

Investors gave her personal checks to buy the advertised CDs.

But the couple did not invest the money, Winn said. Instead, they kept it, and sent the investors phony CDs from their company, Global Reserve BT, prosecutors allege.

"The victims were not being careless," Winn said. "It's not their fault at all."

The East County woman said the La Jolla office appeared to be normal and "raised no red flags."

The woman said she was drawn by the promise of a return of between 7 percent and 7.75 percent, and thought the little bit of extra money she would get from interest would boost her income each year. She planned to continually reinvest the money in the short-term CD offering.

Winn said that at the time of the alleged scam, which ran between January 2006 and July 2007, legitimate CDs were offering a return of about 5 percent.

The Reiswigs have a history of accusations of questionable business practices, and have been the subject of at least two "desist and refrain" orders issued by the California Department of Corporations.

The couple, who rented a home on Juniper Street in Escondido, are awaiting sentencing in Orange County for a fraud conviction ---- a jury found they had bilked a widow there out of $500,000.

Ronald Reiswig faces up to 14 years behind bars; his wife, Janet, faces more than 15 years in that case.

If convicted on all charges in the San Diego County case, the couple face up to 28 years behind bars.

The East County woman who lost her life savings said she wishes "no ill will" against the Reiswigs. Her only concern is making ends meet.

"I am hoping and praying I get that money back," she said.

Winn suggested that anyone who thinks they might have fallen victim to the alleged scheme contact investigator Joseph Cargel in the district attorney's office in San Diego at (619) 531-4040.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 740-5442 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.