Add mom, son to alleged victims

Lawsuit claims Turlock man benefited from foreclosures

By GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITER

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Add "identify theft from an Alzheimer's patient" to the lengthy list of crimes Tony Daniloo is accused of committing while seeking the life of the rich and famous.

While awaiting criminal proceedings behind bars in Alameda County, the Turlock mortgage broker recently was slapped with another civil lawsuit brought by a former client, a distant relative by marriage.

Daniloo, or someone in his business circle, forged the elderly woman's name on notarized documents and stripped nearly a half-million dollars from property she eventually lost, according to the latest lawsuit.

Though the South San Francisco woman had moved to Colorado before the transaction, the apparently bogus documents showed her living in Turlock, Daniloo's headquarters.

Daniloo, 31, and his wife, Nansi Masihi Daniloo, 30, face 55 felony counts of grand theft and elder abuse at a preliminary hearing scheduled to begin Friday in Oakland.

Tony Daniloo faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of conning some $1.7 million from clients. He remains in custody in lieu of $800,000 bail. His wife is free since posting a $100,000 bond.

The Bee was unable to reach their attorneys for comment.

Prosecutor Bill Denny of the Alameda County district attorney's office said the hearing may be delayed a few days because of problems lining up taped interviews of Daniloo's reported victims.

The couple were flying high a year ago, having promised a combined $5.5 million to a hospital and university, both in Turlock. They moved their luxury vehicles and fine jewelry into a 4,700-square-foot Turlock home.

But The Bee reported on their checkered past and they were arrested in December.

The latest alleged victim to emerge, Wilhelimina Ashton, died Oct. 25 in a Colorado Springs care home at age 86. Her son, Jean Ashton, a Campbell attorney, is suing Tony Daniloo on behalf of her estate.

Court documents say Jean Ashton's wife is a distant relative of Nansi Daniloo. Stanislaus County property records show both families involved in real estate deals on identical properties in Turlock.

Asked for refinancing help

A few years before, Jean Ashton had approached Tony Daniloo for help refinancing a home Ashton owned in San Jose. He may have divulged too much information about property his mother owned in South San Francisco, the documents suggest. Mother and son had a joint savings account.

Both eventually lost their homes in foreclosure sales held without their knowledge, though the transaction on Jean Ashton's home is the subject of a separate trial, the documents state.

But first, Daniloo apparently stripped $447,200 from the mother's home in a bogus loan secured by the South San Francisco property, the lawsuit claims. Her name seems to appear on an October 2003 loan document.

Her health deteriorating, she had moved to Colorado five months before and the writing is not hers, the lawsuit states.

"The mortgage placed against her home was obtained by the blatant fraud perpetuated by Tony Daniloo and the notary E. Speth," Jean Ashton's lawyer wrote in a court document.

The unidentified forger apparently used a Turlock address, but "Wilhelimina Ashton has never held title to this property, nor has she ever been in Turlock," her son's lawsuit states.

'Default' leads to foreclosure

However, documents in the Stanislaus County recorder's office suggest his mother bought and sold two Turlock properties since moving out of state. One lists her as the owner-occupier.

Whether Wilhelimina Ashton's identity was used improp-erly in those transactions could not be determined.

Meanwhile, the mortgage company handling Ashton's supposed loan secured by her South San Francisco home said Ashton defaulted on repayments. The company sold the home, still full of her personal mementos, at a foreclosure proceeding in December. The price: $630,000, according to a deed document in the San Mateo County recorder's office.

Thethree-bedroom,1,300square-foot home, built in 1956, since has been converted to a duplex, according to deed documents.

Notary public Elba Speth recorded the loan and another Ashton transaction as an employee of Fidelity National Title Co. Her notary bond is worth only $15,000, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit asks a judge to:

Order current owners to hand over the property to Jean Ashton.

Award him $1,000 per month in lost rent that his mother might have received.

Award exemplary, punitive and "enhanced damages for financial abuse of an elder."

Order Speth to pay Ashton the property's value.

Daniloo's previous victims, authorities say, include a 74-year-old Newark woman who discovered her house had been swiped while reading about foreclosures in a newspaper. Daniloo duped at least four other elderly people, authorities say.

The case prompted legislation by Assemblyman Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, requiring background checks and fingerprinting of new finance lenders.

Gov. Schwarzenegger signed it into law in October, but it's not clear how it might have affected Tony Daniloo. He never applied for a license and did not disclose his half ownership in DreamLife, his Modesto-based mortgage firm, as required by state law.

Bee staff writer Garth Stapley can be reached at 578-2390 or gstapley@modbee.com.