FBI Seeks La Habra Man
La Habra Man Charged with Defrauding Elderly Couple Considered Fugitive, Wanted by the FBI
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A La Habra man charged with defrauding an elderly couple is being sought by the FBI after he failed to appear for a court hearing on June 27th, 2011.
John Arthur Walthall, 55, was arrested by the FBI in 2009 for defrauding an elderly Laguna Nigel couple out of nearly $5 million, according to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Orange County. Walthall faces charges including multiple counts of wire fraud. The indictment states that the victims, both of whom were in their late 80s, gave Walthall more than $4.7 million dollars to invest in technology aimed at finding gold in abandoned mines.
Walthall’s trial is currently scheduled for September 13, 2011. A recent motion was filed by the government seeking to revoke Walthall’s bond due to findings that he had been exaggerating a medical condition in order to avoid trial. On June 23, 2011, Judge Andrew J. Guilford ordered Walthall to appear at a hearing to address the government’s motion on June 27, 2011 at 3:00p.m. Walthall did not appear at the hearing and Judge Guilford issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
Walthall is described as follows:
Race: White
DOB: 9/13/55
Hair: Brown
Height: 5’8”
Eyes: Hazel
Weight: 195
A Department of Motor Vehicles photograph of Walthall, dated March 2010, is being released to the media.
According to the indictment, Walthall convinced the victims to invest in a partnership called “Advanced Recycling General Partners,” for the purported purpose of searching for and extracting gold from old mines. Walthall allegedly told the elderly couple that he had invested more than $3 million of his own money in more than a decade worth of research in the gold extraction process.
The large majority of the couple’s money was not used for its intended purpose, but was used by Walthall for his own gold investments and personal expenses, including making alimony and child support payments for his four children; paying rent and other living expenses. In addition, Walthall allegedly used investor money to purchase multiple vehicles and luxury items: among them a $10,000 payment to a film school and a hyperbaric oxygen chamber worth approximately $60,000.
When Walthall was arrested in 2009, agents found approximately $500,000 in gold coins under his bed during a search of his residence. Agents also seized three vehicles Walthall had purchased with investor money, including two Ford Excursions and a Ford 450 pick-up truck.
Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Walthall is urged to contact the FBI 24 hours a day at 888 CANT HIDE (888 226-8443).
This continuing investigation is being conducted by the FBI. Walthall will be prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
PRESS CONTACT:
FBI Media Relations: Laura Eimiller, 310 996-3343
United States Attorney’s Office: Thom Mrozek, 213 894-6947
My Grandma - A Eulogy
LET'S TALK ABOUT 1914 FOR A MOMENT.
FOR STARTERS, GRANDMA WAS BORN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1914 IN HER FAMILY'S ATWOOD RANCH HOUSE.
IT IS WORTH NOTING THOSE ALSO BORN IN 1914:
JACK LALANNE
JOE DIMAGGIO
DANNY THOMAS
AND WHO DIED IN 1914:
JOHN MUIR, THE FAMOUS NATURALIST FOR WHICH NUMEROUS ROADS, PARKS, HOTELS, AND NATURE RESERVES ARE NAMED.
IT IS ALSO WORTH NOTING THAT IN 1914 WOODROW WILSON SIGNS MOTHER'S DAY PROCLAMATION AND BABE RUTH MAKES HIS MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT WITH THE RED SOX. MOTHER'S DAY AND BASEBALL- TWO OF MY FAVORITES!! (PERHAPS HER NICKNAME "BABE" CAME FROM BABE RUTH???)
GRANDMA WAS BORN INTO A PERIOD OF TIME FILLED WITH TURMOIL. IN JUNE OF 1914 ARCHDUKE FRANZS FERDINAND WAS ASSASSINATED. WITHIN ONE MONTH WORLD WAR I RAGED ACROSS EUROPE. TWO DAYS AFTER HER BIRTH HOWEVER, GERMAN AND BRITISH TROOPS INTERRUPTED WWI TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. (PERHAPS THEY PAUSE KNOWING THAT A GREAT WOMAN WAS BORNE) WORLD WAR I CONTINUED UNTIL THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES IN 1919.
ALTHOUGH SHE WAS ONLY 5 YEARS OLD, SHE SAW THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS CREATED AND THE 19TH AMENDMENT WAS APPROVED BY THE U.S. CONGRESS GUARANTEEING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN TO VOTE.
SHE LIVED THROUGH MANY NOTABLE EVENTS. LIKE THE 1933 LONG BEACH EARTHQUAKE OR WHEN ATWOOD FLOODED ALONG WITH MOST OF ORANGE COUNTY IN 1938 AND THE FLOOD-WATERS CLAIMED MORE THAN 50 PEOPLE, 43 OF WHICH WERE FROM ATWOOD! ALL OF THIS DURING A TIME THAT WE READ ABOUT IN SCHOOL AND KNOWN AS "THE GREAT DEPRESSION". SOMEWHERE IN ALL OF THAT SHE FOUND THE LOVE OF HER LIFE, GRANDPA LEO, GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL, GOT MARRIED, AND HAD KIDS!
THEN THERE WAS WORLD WAR II. FROM PEARL HARBOR TO HIROSHIMA, GRANDMA WAS RAISING MY UNCLE BOB AND MOM ARLINE. WITH AIR-RAID SIRENS AND BLACKOUTS SHE WAS A WIFE AND MOTHER. WHAT A TIME TO RAISE CHILDREN! I BET GRANDMA'S PARENTS WERE ABEL TO TELL HER A THING OR TWO ABOUT RAISING KIDS IN WARTIME.
GRANDMA WAS THERE WHEN THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA HELD THEIR 3RD ANNUAL NATIONAL JAMBOREE IN 1953. SHE SAW AIRBASES OPEN IN '42 AND CLOSE IN '99. SHE WATCHED WALTER KNOTT START UP HIS BERRY FARM AND WALT DISNEY TURN ORANGE GROVES AND STRAWBERRY PATCHES INTO DISNEYLAND!
SHE SAW THE HORSE AND CARRIAGE FADE AWAY INTO HISTORY AND SPACE TRAVEL EXPLODE BEFORE HER WITH THE FIRST LUNAR LANDING. JUST IMAGINE HOW MUCH TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST 100 YEARS. FROM TUBE RECTIFIERS TO SUPERCONDUCTORS; FROM TRANS-ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLES TO SATELLITE TV.
SHE SAW MORE IN HER 93 YEARS THAN MOST OF US WILL EVER READ ABOUT, LET ALONE LIVE THROUGH!
OF THOSE 93 YEARS IT IS MY HONOR TO HAVE BEEN HER GRANDSON FOR 35 OF THEM. SHE WAS MY MOTHER WHEN MOM HAD TO WORK. SHE WIPED MY NOSE AND PUT FOOD IN MY MOUTH. SHE LET ME PLAY WITH GRANDPA EVEN THOUGH SHE NEEDED HIM TO TAKE HER TO THE STORE. SHE WAS MY GRANDMA AND I WILL MISS HER IMMENSELY.
JUST LOOK AROUND THIS ROOM; SHE DID THIS. SHE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING SO MANY GOOD PEOPLE INTO THIS WORLD AND TOGETHER TODAY. THIS IS HER LEGACY.
A Dedication To My Loving Wife, Stacey. Thank you for all you do for me!
Brad Paisley - I Thought I Loved You Then
I remember trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mesmerized
3 weeks later in the front porch light taking 45 min to kiss you goodnight
I hadn’t told you yet but I thought I loved you then
Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.
I remember taking you back to right where I first met you
You were so surprised
There were people around
But I didn’t care I got down on one knee right there
And once again I thought I loved you then
Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.
I can just see you with a baby on the way
I can just see you when your hair is turning gray
What I can’t see is how I’m ever gonna love you more
But I’ve said that before.
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Well look back some day at this moment that we’re in
And I'll look at you and say I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then...
A La Habra man charged with defrauding an elderly couple is being sought by the FBI after he failed to appear for a court hearing on June 27th, 2011.
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