Simi attorney could face five more years in new estate theft case

Simi attorney could face five more years in new estate theft case


By Raul Hernandez

Originally published 06:34 p.m., December 15, 2011

Updated 06:44 p.m., December 15, 2011

The 57-year-old son of Nao Takasugi — a late assemblyman and Oxnard mayor — will remain in jail pending sentencing early next year for embezzling from an estate and will probably get five years in prison, according to prosecutors.

But new charges involving the theft of money from another estate that were made public Wednesday mean Simi Valley attorney Russell Takasugi could get an additional five years or more, prosecutor Marc Leventhal said in an interview Thursday.

After learning there was an warrant for his arrest Wednesday, Takasugi turned himself in to authorities. He later discovered the district attorney had filed seven new felony charges, including grand theft, money laundering and multiple counts of forgery.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Colleen Toy White on Thursday denied a request by Takasugi's lawyer Ron Bamieh to allow Takasugi out on his own recognizance or reduce the $50,000 bail set for the new felony charges.

The judge called Takasugi a "public safety" concern and ordered him to remain in jail pending sentencing Jan. 5. He also will be arraigned on the new felonies that day. While violence such as the use of a knife or gun isn't a concern, the judge said Takasugi's weapons are a pen, a checkbook and withdrawal slips.

In October, Takasugi pleaded no contest to embezzling more than $500,000 from the estate of Oscar Muro. Muro died in August 2007 from pancreatic cancer at age 71. Takasugi has argued that he loaned himself money from Muro's estate.

Bank records filed in probate court show Takasugi spent lavishly on family members and at restaurants and stores, took vacations and bought a BMW.

Prosecutors have been looking at the latest charges since the Muro case was filed and have been compiling evidence since that time, Leventhal said, "and now is the time to proceed on those charges."

Takasugi faces up to 14 years in jail if convicted of the new charges. The judge probably will give him another five years or more, said Leventhal, adding that he is hopeful the latest criminal charges can also be resolved via plea agreement Jan. 5.

Leventhal said Takasugi stole tens of thousands of dollars from the estate of Hazel McVey, a former client who died Oct. 13, 2002. Leventhal added that Takasugi created the illusion that she was alive.

"After her death, it appears he used his access to her assets to continue to maintain the illusion that she was alive and to slowly drain those assets by forging checks and transferring money among various accounts of hers that should have been turned into estate accounts," Leventhal said.

After McVey died, her accounts were left open and Takasugi helped himself to the money, Leventhal said. McVey, who had lived in Simi Valley and died in Chatsworth, had no "direct lineal heirs."

A nephew was located, and he recalled meeting Takasugi in the 1990s. The nephew considered Takasugi a "crook" even then, Leventhal said.

Authorities are still trying to determine how much McVey's estate is worth, so it's unclear how much was stolen from her estate, Leventhal added.

"The transactions that we've actually charged total in the tens of thousands of dollars," said Leventhal, adding that McVey's estate is valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Bamieh said the district attorney is prosecuting Takasugi on the new case because the judge was considering giving Takasugi a lesser sentence, possibly probation.

"I don't believe that this just came up," he said. "They were concerned about the sentence that Judge White was going to give Mr. Takasugi."

Bamieh said there have been similar white-collar criminal cases in Ventura County in which people who stole much more money and didn't pay restitution received probation. Takasugi paid restitution before the Muro case was filed, and prosecutors are seeking eight years in prison in that case, Bamieh said.

"The judge who is supposed to be an impartial arbitrator of these disputes looks at it and goes, 'How can I possibly put him in prison for all this time when others have gotten probation?' " he said.

Bamieh represents The Star on First Amendment issues

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