S L Owners

In a January, 1987, "confidential" memorandum to Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif)., a Cranston fund-raiser wrote that savings and loan executive Charles H. Keating Jr. was among campaign supporters who "rightfully expect" some resolution of pending requests for help from the senator. Over the next few months, Cranston met several times with Keating and twice with federal thrift regulators on Keating's behalf to discuss their inquiries into Keating's Irvine, Calif., operation, Lincoln S&L.

Charles H. Keating Jr. will be the first witness called to the stand early next week as testimony gets underway in the trial of the securities fraud lawsuits brought by investors who lost more than $250 million after the 1989 collapse of his company and its Lincoln Savings & Loan subsidiary. But it is unlikely that the former Arizona developer will say anything. Instead, he is expected to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against testifying to avoid incriminating himself.

Richard J. Meyer, a real estate investor who headed an Anaheim bank, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to fraud and other charges in a 14-count indictment stemming from the 1986 collapse of a Northern California savings and loan. Meyer, 54, was released on his own recognizance after entering his plea before U.S. Magistrate F. Steele Langford in San Francisco. No trial date was set. Meyer faces a maximum penalty of 70 years in prison and fines totaling $2.6 million.

John L. Molinaro had never set foot inside a financial institution except as a customer until the day he and a partner bought Ramona Savings & Loan. The Santa Ana resident had no college degree, and his only business experience was as a carpet salesman. "I had no experience at all . . . in connection with the running and directing of a savings and loan association," Molinaro acknowledged in a court deposition years later. Nevertheless, Molinaro and real estate developer Donald P. Mangano won swift approval from regulatory agencies in April, 1984, for their $4-million purchase of Orange-based Ramona and its $55 million in assets.

Prudential Insurance Co. has paid $10.5 million--its largest death benefit ever--on a policy insuring North America Savings & Loan Assn. owner Duayne D. Christensen, who was killed in a Jan. 16 car crash just hours before regulators seized his troubled institution. The payment, however, is being withheld from the policy's sole owner and beneficiary, Janet F. McKinzie. Prudential placed the money Wednesday in the custody of the U.S.

Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) acknowledged Thursday that he called a state official in 1989 to ask about a possible sale of ailing Lincoln Savings & Loan, but he denounced as "absurd" suggestions that he was trying to use political pressure to help Lincoln owner Charles H. Keating Jr. DeConcini and his lawyer, James Hamilton, sparred repeatedly with Senate Ethics Committee counsel Robert S. Bennett over the significance of DeConcini's phone call to the Sacramento office of John K.

Jeffrey A. Levitt, whose ouster as Old Court Savings and Loan president last year sparked a run on Maryland's privately insured thrift industry, pleaded guilty today to theft and misappropriation of almost $15 million of depositors' funds. Levitt also pledged to repay the full amount before he is sentenced on July 2.

Former S&L Owners' Trial Delayed: U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon has delayed the criminal trial of the former owners of Orange-based Ramona Savings & Loan until June 13 because of a scheduling conflict. John L. Molinaro and Donald P. Mangano were scheduled to stand trial begining today on more than 30 criminal charges including bank fraud and conspiracy in connection with a Palm Springs real estate deal that regulators say contributed to Ramona's September, 1986, collapse. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office said a lengthy civil lawsuit Kenyon is currently hearing forced the postponement.

The Stanton-based S&L, which had been operating with almost a $1-million negative net worth, was acquired by Vesteq Financial Services. The S&L's new owners plan to put $3.5 million in cash into the troubled thrift and close three of its six branch offices. The S&L also plans to move its headquarters to Newport Beach in June.

One of the brighter notes in the dismal first-quarter earnings of Orange County savings and loans is that 14 of the still solvent, independently owned thrifts exceed all three levels of capital that the federal government will require of thrifts by the end of 1994. In addition, according to recently released figures by thrift regulators, three others meet current requirements, which gradually increase to the fully phased-in levels in four years. For a capital-starved industry, that's good news.