A coast-to-coast manhunt is under way for a Chico man suspected of involvement in one of the nation's largest mortgage-fraud schemes, federal authorities say.
Garret Griffith Gililland III was indicted Aug. 14 by a federal grand jury in Sacramento on three counts of making false statements on loan applications and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction with cash derived from unlawful activity.
But the 27-year-old Gililland, described in the indictment as "an unlicensed mortgage broker," fled before he could be arrested, authorities said.
He is described as approximately 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, dark blond hair, green eyes and an athletic build with a number of tattoos.
Federal agents said they believe he has ties to Loomis Wealth Solutions, a Roseville-based company with offices in Illinois and Washington state, which holds itself out as a financial planner that has "figured out a way to help you accumulate cash."
The organization offers to help those who buy membership in one of its plans locate and buy properties that will yield rental income.
"Our members receive an average of $340 (a month) in rental income for properties they have acquired in 2008," its Web site boasts.
The Web site scam.com, however, features postings by people who claim they have lost money dealing with Loomis Wealth Solutions.
Internal Revenue Service and FBI agents raided its Roseville office Aug. 26 and carted away 204 boxes of records, plus an array of computers and related equipment.
At the same time, agents raided the Granite Bay home of the company's head, Lawrence Leland "Lee" Loomis, and seized business and personal records. That same evening, an FBI agent and an IRS agent approached the 51-year-old Loomis at Sacramento International Airport and seized his laptop computer, canceled checks and various types of paperwork.
The next morning, an IRS agent seized more than $461,000 from two Loomis-related bank accounts.
Later that day, the California Department of Corporations issued desist and refrain orders against Loomis, Loomis Wealth Solutions and two affiliated entities.
The order aimed at Loomis and Loomis Wealth Solutions says they have been offering and selling securities in the form of plan memberships that anticipate members purchasing property, "and then allowing Loomis and Loomis Wealth Solutions Inc. to control the property. The member is promised a monthly return plus half the sale price when the property is sold."
Loomis and his company "were engaged in unlicensed broker-dealer activity," the securities had not been qualified under state law, and Loomis had been acting as an investment adviser without required authorization, the order states.
"Loomis Wealth Solutions will shortly be making a motion for the return of the funds and property that were seized," Malcom Segal, the company's attorney, told The Bee.
"The government has declined to restore the money to the accounts and has refused to return the computer records and documents that would allow the company to function," he said.
"Hopefully, the government will eventually determine that this was an appropriate business methodology and terminate its investigation," Segal said.
Loomis' attorney, Patrick Hanly, was even more explicit.
"The government won't even tell us what it is Mr. Loomis is supposed to have done wrong," Hanly said. "We're confident that, once all the facts come out, he will be shown not to have done anything wrong."
Federal officials in Sacramento said the case is larger in scope than the Charles Head case.
In March, the 33-year-old from La Habra was indicted as the alleged ringleader in a massive mortgage-fraud case that investigators said preyed on people close to foreclosure and stripped homeowners in two dozen states of millions of dollars in equity. Indictments also were issued against 18 other people, according to court records.
Call The Bee's Denny Walsh, (916) 321-1189.
