A Santa Maria judge has ordered longtime Santa Maria businessman Michael Wilson to pay more than $100,000 to Central Coast residents Fern Borgsdorf and Gordon Henderson.
The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed in March by Borgsdorf and Henderson accusing Wilson of “fraud, bad faith, and negligence,” according to court documents.
The lawsuit claims Wilson borrowed $50,000 each from Henderson and Borgsdorf to loan to San Benito County resident Elizabeth Campisi. In return, they were set to receive promissory notes from Wilson’s company, Pacific Coast Mortgage, and a first trust deed on Campisi’s property.
Wilson allegedly told Henderson and Borgsdorf he would collect $2,500 per month from Campisi, and then distribute to each of them monthly payments of $500.
Henderson and Borgsdorf, however, allege in the lawsuit that they only received payments for four months. They also claimed that they could not find proof of a trust deed for Pacific Coast Mortgage in San Benito County.
During a hearing on May 8, Judge Art Garcia ordered Wilson to pay each of the plaintiffs $50,000 plus interest. A case management conference before Garcia is scheduled for July 8.
As of press time, legal representation for all three parties had not returned phone calls.
Wilson will go to court again in July, this time in Santa Barbara, to face additional allegations of real estate fraud. Earlier this year, Santa Barbara resident Valerie Williams filed a lawsuit against Wilson accusing him of running a Ponzi scheme.
Williams is seeking the return of $700,000 she allegedly loaned Wilson, plus interest and punitive damages. She is also asking for the deed to Los Alamos property Wilson allegedly planned to buy through his company, Pacific Coast Wine Services LLC.
According to the lawsuit, Wilson borrowed $200,000 each from two other individuals for the same project. Williams claims the deed of trust to secure the loans was never finalized, and the loans were never paid off. A response filed by Wilson’s attorney, however, denies the claims.
Williams’ attorney, Scott B. Campbell of Rogers, Sheffield & Campbell, LLP, declined to comment on the case by request of his client.
A case management conference for Williams’ case is scheduled for July 7.
This article appears in May 21-28, 2009.