Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Former SD councilman fleeced in scam

Ed Struiksma taken by Pennsylvanian who ran an up-front loan scam

Michael McManus of Philadelphia was sentenced Tuesday (October 7) to 16 years in prison for running an up-front loan scam that fleeced $26 million from more than 1000 hopeful entrepreneurs who gave him up-front money to get a loan. But McManus's operation, Remington Financial Group, kept the up-front loan payments without delivering on the loans.

That's the essence of the up-front loan scam: people who can't get loans from conventional sources pay a fee to the con artist who promises a loan, but never delivers, and keeps the up-front payment.

Sponsored
Sponsored

One of McManus's victims was former San Diego councilmember Ed Struiksma, who was once an acting mayor in the mid-1980s. Struiksma earlier told Bloomberg News that in 2006 he paid Remington $25,000 in fees, but failed to receive $8 million to $10 million he needed to fund an 1100-acre master-planned community in Central California.

Struiksma said Remington gave him a partial refund — $300 a month for about a year. After Remington got his money, the company "started coming up with requests for studies costing a couple hundred thousand dollars," Struiksma told Bloomberg. But with no loan in sight, the project tanked.

Joel Nathanson of San Diego was "one of Remington's most proficient employees," said the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Philadelphia. Nathanson was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Aaron Stewart trades Christmas wonders for his first new music in 15 years

“Just because the job part was done, didn’t mean the passion had to die”
Next Article

Hike off those holiday calories, Poinsettias are peaking

Winter Solstice is here and what is winter?

Michael McManus of Philadelphia was sentenced Tuesday (October 7) to 16 years in prison for running an up-front loan scam that fleeced $26 million from more than 1000 hopeful entrepreneurs who gave him up-front money to get a loan. But McManus's operation, Remington Financial Group, kept the up-front loan payments without delivering on the loans.

That's the essence of the up-front loan scam: people who can't get loans from conventional sources pay a fee to the con artist who promises a loan, but never delivers, and keeps the up-front payment.

Sponsored
Sponsored

One of McManus's victims was former San Diego councilmember Ed Struiksma, who was once an acting mayor in the mid-1980s. Struiksma earlier told Bloomberg News that in 2006 he paid Remington $25,000 in fees, but failed to receive $8 million to $10 million he needed to fund an 1100-acre master-planned community in Central California.

Struiksma said Remington gave him a partial refund — $300 a month for about a year. After Remington got his money, the company "started coming up with requests for studies costing a couple hundred thousand dollars," Struiksma told Bloomberg. But with no loan in sight, the project tanked.

Joel Nathanson of San Diego was "one of Remington's most proficient employees," said the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Philadelphia. Nathanson was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard

Bending the stage barriers in East Village
Next Article

Victorian Christmas Tours, Jingle Bell Cruises

Events December 22-December 25, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader