TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

The arrests of Carl Cole, David Crisp and eight others on suspicion of federal mortgage fraud charges capped years of investigation — and local speculation — that followed a local FBI raid of Crisp & Cole Real Estate operations in September 2007.

Fallout from the once high-profile company’s meltdown eventually included more than 140 troubled properties — mostly homes in the Bakersfield area that wound up foreclosed on — carrying bad loans totaling more than $83 million, according to property records tracked by The Californian for more than a year.

Federal prosecutors now peg losses from the alleged fraud at more than $20 million.
Here’s how the story of former partners Cole, 63, and Crisp, 31, has played out so far:

1991: Carl Cole becomes a licensed real estate salesman in California.

His application is initially denied due to a felony conviction in North Carolina, where in 1988 a Moore County jury found him guilty of a crime against nature for engaging in a sex act with an 18-year-old male. The teen was a student at the Big Oak Christian School, where Cole was principal, and the incident took place in Cole’s office, records show.

While oral sex between adults is not a crime in California, the California Department of Real Estate in March denies Cole’s license application because the crime involved “a relationship of trust and authority — that of principal and student,” records show.
But an administrative judge overrules the department’s decision in June. Cole gets an unrestricted license.

1997: A teenage David Crisp meets his future business partner when Cole sells a house to Crisp’s mother, Tu Crisp.

2001: At the beginning of the year, Crisp is working at On The Border Mexican restaurant.
In March, Crisp gets his real estate license. He joins Kyle Carter Real Estate.

2002: Crisp and Cole form a sales partnership while working at Kyle Carter Real Estate. In October, they form the Crisp, Cole & Associates corporation.

2003: Cole gets his broker’s license.

2004: Kyle Carter Homes, since bought out by Corky McMillin Co., recognizes Cole and Crisp as top listing and sales agents for grossing $600,000 to $800,000 in commissions.
In December, the partners launch a production company to make ads and 30-minute infomercials.

The same month, both men start using Crisp, Cole & Associates to make real estate deals, deeding homes to the company that are later bought and sold between company principals and employees.

2005: In February, Cole and Crisp leave McMillin Realty to open Crisp & Cole Real Estate. Eight agents and six staff members follow. The same month, they form Tower Lending, a mortgage brokerage.

In June, REALTOR Magazine features then-25-year-old Crisp in its “30 under 30” spread on the nation’s top real estate professionals.

In October, The Sacramento Bee writes about Crisp as a symbol of Bakersfield’s hot housing market.

In December, LORE (Lives of Real Estate) magazine profiles the partnership in a piece titled The Rock & The Rocket. Coverage includes a glossy photo spread with images of the pair holding champagne flutes and Crisp lounging in a jet.

2006: In April, Crisp buys a commercial office building at 8800 Stockdale Highway for $2.5 million, touting the space as the future sales office for a proposed tower project at Cal State Bakersfield. (The space is later foreclosed on in late 2007.)

In May, Crisp joins the ownership group of the Bakersfield Jam basketball franchise. By April 2007, he pulls out of the organization.

In June, Crisp is featured on the front page of The Californian. The story details his rapid rise to success and lavish lifestyle. Crisp describes himself as an “up-and-coming mogul” who follows a “fake it till you make it” approach. He says the company typically owns 45 to 60 investment properties at a time.

In October, Crisp forms a new company, Crisp Real Estate Inc.

In November, Cole steps down as designated broker at Crisp & Cole Real Estate, but remains a partner. Cole becomes broker at his son Alan Cole’s Points West Realty. Jack Doremus takes over brokerage duties at Crisp & Cole. The head brokerage responsibility later shifts to Ty Stewart.

2007: In January, Crisp, Cole & Associates receives conceptual approval from the California State University system’s board of trustees to build the Crisp & Cole University Towers. The project features a pair of 31-story mixed-use condominium towers on the Cal State Bakersfield campus.

In March, the vision shrinks to 24 stories. Trustees were concerned about a “monolithic” appearance, Cole says at the time.

Also in March, Crisp is unable to make payroll for some employees. Tower Lending closes its last two loans. The Department of Real Estate alleges Cole employed Jayson Costa, an unlicensed salesman, and allowed him to work on loans at Tower Lending.

In April, Crisp family defaults pop up, the beginning of what will be a string of foreclosed properties related to Crisp, Cole, their family members and their employees.

In May, the first of many lawsuits seeking to recoup unpaid bills from the Crisp & Cole companies is filed.

In June, the IRS places a $111,170 lien in back taxes and penalties against Crisp and his wife, Jennifer. More state and federal liens will follow.

In July, Cal State Bakersfield ends negotiations with Crisp. The would-be developer failed to meet certain project requirements, a university memo says.

Also in July, several residents in Oildale’s North Country Meadows development who believed they were in a lease-to-buy program through Crisp & Cole learn from Californian reporters the homes they live in are in default and the lease-to-buy program never existed.

On Sept. 10, the Department of Real Estate issues a complaint against Crisp, Cole and three employees, charging them with deceiving lenders to take out $12 million in home loans. The complaint also names Crisp’s wife, mother-in-law and a fourth employee, none of whom have real estate licenses so are not subject to fines or discipline from the department.

On Sept. 12, FBI and IRS agents search 13 homes and offices related to former Crisp & Cole operations. Warrants are sealed, but paperwork belonging to a law enforcement officer lists bank records, appraisal documents and business and financial papers among items to be seized. San Joaquin Appraisals, owned by Kirksey J. “Mark” Newton Jr., is searched, as is the home of Kevin and Leslie Sluga, Crisp’s father- and mother-in-law.

State regulators in November 2008 allege Newton created “misleading or fraudulent reports” for eight properties, five of them connected to Crisp & Cole. After an administrative hearing, Newton in March 2010 was ordered to pay a fine of more than $28,000 to cover the cost of the state’s investigation into “errors and omissions” in his appraisal work and to undergo additional training. Newton’s license was allowed to expire on Nov. 5, 2010.

2008: In July and August, Cole and Crisp’s licenses are on the line during an administrative hearing in the basement of the downtown Masonic Temple, where the Department of Real Estate’s complaint lodged a year earlier is heard before an administrative law judge.

In September, the department decides to revoke both men’s licenses. Cole appeals unsuccessfully.

Three former employees named in the complaint also lose licenses.

2009: In January, former lender Fremont Investment & Loan — now Signature Group Holdings — files a massive lawsuit against Crisp, Cole & Associates and a string of appraisers, accountants, a homebuilder and others alleging massive fraud. A second suit from Fremont with additional allegations and defendants is filed in August.

While numerous civil suits have been filed against Crisp, Cole and some of their associates, the Fremont suit is so far the largest in scope.

Sept. 28: Former employee Jerald Teixeira pleads guilty in a Fresno federal courtroom to criminal charges related to his work for the firm. The plea agreement is the first criminal charge related to the former company.

In November, the California Department of Real Estate bars David Crisp from working in any real estate-related field for three years.

2010: On Jan. 7, plea agreements for the father- and mother-in-law of David Crisp are filed by federal prosecutors in Fresno district court.

Kevin and Leslie Sluga admit to wire fraud in a “package offer” that requires their daughter, Megan Balod, to also plead guilty to criminal charges.

On Jan. 25, Balod pleads guilty to wire fraud.

In July, former loan officer Christopher Stovall pleads guilty to mail fraud.

All five, who have agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors, still await sentencing.

Jan. 20, 2011: Federal agents arrest Carl Cole, David Crisp and six former employees: Julie Farmer, Sneha Mohammadi, Jayson Costa, Jeriel Salinas, Robinson Nguyen and Michael Munoz. They also arrest Cole’s son, Caleb Cole. On Friday morning, Crisp’s wife, Jennifer, turns herself in to authorities.

The 10 are named in a 56-count federal indictment on numerous mortgage fraud violations.

Sources: California Secretary of State; Californian archives; Department of Real Estate; The Daily Report; Kern County Recorder’s Office; court records