Criminal court records in Arizona, however, paint a very different picture: Twenty years ago, Trujillo -- then using the names Raul Trujillo Mier and Alfredo Trujillo Guarneros -- pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and was sentenced to 10 years in prison after investors in Florida and Arizona complained that he had disappeared with their money.
Trujillo said his Arizona prison term stemmed from "a very minor thing."
The Arizona prosecutor who handled Trujillo's case disagreed, describing him in one court document from 1988 as a deft liar and career con artist.
"His silver tongue, polished style and vanishing act served him well," John Evans, the prosecutor, wrote in a sentencing memo at the time, urging the judge to grant the maximum sentence of 10 years.
Back then, Trujillo said he was a lawyer "with family connections in the highest levels of Mexican business and government." He defrauded victims of at least $76,000, according to criminal court records. When suspicions about Trujillo arose in Phoenix, he left town and reemerged in Tucson as an international consultant, this time under a different name.
In Tucson, Trujillo engaged in elaborate currency-exchange and real-estate schemes, the prosecutor alleged in court documents.
But before authorities could arrest him, Trujillo seemed to vanish once more, dodging private detectives hired by those he allegedly defrauded.
He resurfaced in Florida in 1987, where he again promised to connect businessmen with rich Mexican investors, according to court records.
His fortunes soured when a detective there connected him with the crimes he was wanted for in Arizona.
"This is a lifestyle," said Evans, the Arizona prosecutor, in an interview with The Times earlier this year.
"It's the old con -- he looks successful, he can talk the talk, he drops the names and can't produce because he isn't any of that."
Trujillo served six years of his 10-year prison sentence before he was released on parole, records show.
When Trujillo arrived in Beverly Hills several years ago, investors said they were charmed by the man with a limp and a deep Ricardo Montalban voice.
In conversations with investors and The Times, he casually spoke of his involvement in multibillion-dollar real estate projects.
"Everyone knew who he was, everyone was saying hello, it was amazing," said Albert Saggese, a businessman who said he was introduced to Trujillo by his insurance agent, and handed over $30,000 when Trujillo offered to help him expand his business south of the border.
