2 Convicted in $4-Million Bank Fraud Scheme

LOS ANGELES —  Two Orange County businessmen, accused of pocketing much of the $4 million they borrowed to build a fleet of custom limousines, were convicted Tuesday on federal bank fraud charges.

Jurors deliberated eight days before returning guilty verdicts against Michael Victor Louciano of Orange and John Marsella of Corona del Mar.

Louciano, 42, is an Iranian whose real name is Victor Bagha. Last March, a federal grand jury indicted him on 32 counts, including conspiracy, submitting false loan applications to a bank and attempting to execute a scheme to defraud a bank. Jurors found Louciano guilty on 26 counts. Marsella, 44, was indicted on 17 counts and found guilty on nine.

Louciano’s company, Nationwide Coach Manufacturing Co., had offices in Costa Mesa and Santa Ana before it closed in 1984. Louciano and several acquaintances borrowed money from Mitsui Manufacturers Bank in Los Angeles and Unified Savings Bank in Northridge to buy and customize limousines. Louciano told the jury that he set up the business to provide limousines for visitors to the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Although Nationwide built some limousines, federal prosecutors alleged that Louciano pocketed most of the borrowed money.

Witnesses said Louciano frequently drove the other borrowers to the banks to collect the $50,000 loan needed to build each limousine. Witnesses also testified that Louciano falsified their asset statements and tax returns to obtain the loans for the limousines.

In exchange for their cooperation, Louciano paid each borrower a $5,000 fee and promised attractive tax benefits when they leased their vehicle back to Nationwide Coach, according to court records and witness testimony. None of the borrowers or bank employees were prosecuted.

When Louciano took the stand in his own defense, he said the banks were to blame for the failure of his company because they stopped making new loans.