California Criminal Attorney Blog

An investment manager who raised $53 million in 2008 used the proceeds to operate a complex Ponzi-like scheme, taking new funds to pay off earlier investors and to profit himself, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint filed this week in federal court.

The SEC alleges Matthew Jennings, 39 and his companies raised $53 million in more than 15 offerings of equity and debt that were not registered with the SEC.

To sustain the fraud, Jennings lured new investors to his sceme by offering returns as high as 130 percent annually, the complaint alleges. According the the SEC "Jennings lied to investors about the purpose of Westmoore's offerings," said Rosalind Tyson, director of the SEC's Los Angeles Regional Office. "He lured investors through false promises of a lucrative payout while concealing his complex fraud behind a web of companies and bank accounts".

The next hearing in this case is scheduled for June 24th.

Bail was set at $3 million Monday for a 35-year-old Anaheim woman charged with stabbing her
live-in boyfriend to death during a domestic dispute in their apartment last week.

Corina Jo Castillo will remain in custody pending her continued arraignment on July 9 unless she can post bail, Superior Court Judge Walter Schwarm ordered during a court appearance here.

Castillo is accused of stabbing her victim Jessie Foster, 28, in the back during an argument at 12:15 a.m. in their apartment in the 2200 block of West Broadway. Foster was rushed to UCI Medical Center, where he died of injuries several hours later.

Castillo is charged with one felony count of murder with a sentencing enhancement for using a knife. If convicted, Castillo faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in state prison.

After a woman was arrested for driving under the influence, a Newport Beach police officer cited a broken license plate light as justification for the traffic stop. The patrol car video "clearly demonstrated" the light was working, meaning the motorist was "not lawfully arrested," according to public documents.

The arresting police officer said, "I observed the vehicle did not have a functioning license plate
light. I activated my vehicle's overhead red and blue lights to conduct a traffic stop on the driver
of the vehicle for the violation." The police officer went on to say, while speaking with the driver, "I smelled a moderate level of alcohol from her breath". The officer also noted, her eyes were bloodshot. Subsequent breath tests registered the driver to have a blood alcohol content of .12.

The earlier this year the city agreed to pay $1,670 for her attorney's fees and towing costs.
City officials had no comment press time and not replied to a request for a copy of the video
recording.

A Santa Ana man was arrested Tuesday after police say
he hacked dozens of computers and demanded sexually
explicit videos from female victims in exchange for keeping
their personal information private.

Luis Mijangos 31 years old, was arrested at his home by special agents o
of the FBI. He is charged with extortion, a felony which carries
up to 2 years on federal prison.

The arrest follows a 6 month investigation by local police and FBI.
Mijangos infected more than 100 computers used by over 200 people.
Once the defendant obtained the videos and pictures from the victims,
he would instant messaged the victims extorting additional material or
he would forward all media to the addresses in the victims email address book.