DreamLife boss to face fed charges

By GARTH STAPLEY
BEE STAFF WRITER

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Former DreamLife Financial chief Tony Daniloo of Turlock, charged by the state with 57 felony counts of grand theft and elder abuse, will face additional charges from U.S. attorneys, an Alameda County prosecutor said Tuesday.

An Internal Revenue Service agent, citing policy, refused Tuesday to confirm that federal officers are investigating Daniloo and his wife, Nansi. She faces the same 57 state charges, though she was freed from custody early last year after posting $100,000 bail. Her husband remains behind bars.

Several signs suggest intense federal interest in the Daniloos:

The U.S. Secret Service began investigating the Daniloos in fall 2002, according to IRS affidavits filed before federal agents searched the couple's home and Tony Daniloo's office in December 2004.

Stanislaus County Assistant District Attorney Carol Shipley last month said an assistant U.S. attorney had been assigned to the case.

When asked if local authorities had pursued the Daniloos for possible crimes in and around Modesto and Turlock, Shipley said no — because federal authorities said they would, Shipley said.

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office was ordered in July to transport Tony Daniloo from the Santa Rita Jail to the federal courthouse in San Francisco, according to a document in the state's case file. No reason was listed, and IRS spokesman Mark Lessler said he didn't know why the order — signed by an Alameda County Superior Court judge — was issued.

U.S. attorneys share the same address at 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, as the federal courthouse.

A preliminary hearing on the state charges was supposed to begin today in Alameda County Superior Court. That was delayed until March 16 to give prosecutors on the state and federal levels time to decide who gets the first crack, Alameda County prosecutor William Denny said Tuesday.

"That has not been decided yet," Denny said. "It's been put over so the county can coordinate with federal prosecutors on what's appropriate.

"There are no federal charges now, but there has been a long investigation by federal agents and this interval is helpful to seeking a resolution."

The agencies are independent and there is no set policy for which takes priority.

The Alameda County charges stem from transactions the Daniloos are accused of being involved in as mortgage lenders in the Bay Area before moving to Turlock. Authorities say the couple bilked clients — many of whom were elderly — out of more than $4 million, from 1998 through 2002.

Tony Daniloo's Modesto-based mortgage company, DreamLife Financial, drew public praise in late 2004 when he pledged $4.5million to Turlock's Emanuel Medical Center and $1 million to California State University, Stanislaus. But an investigation by The Bee exposed the couple's history of bankruptcies, tax penalties and civil lawsuits. They were arrested in December 2004.

A recent Bee review found that the Turlock homes of both sets of the couple's parents were "sold" to an elderly Alzheimer's patient about the time Tony Daniloo was setting up his business in Modesto. He used the same woman's forged identity in other schemes, resulting in foreclosure on her South San Francisco home, according to a separate lawsuit.

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