The Alleged ‘Bag Man’ for Silberman Surrenders

A former security guard for a Westlake Village stock brokerage firm surrendered Tuesday in San Diego to federal authorities, who allege that he helped Richard T. Silberman launder $300,000 from an undercover agent who had described the money as coming from Colombian cocaine traffickers.

Darryl Nakatsuka of Los Angeles--portrayed by FBI agents as a “bag man” in a money-laundering operation allegedly orchestrated by Silberman--surrendered at U.S. District Court at 2 p.m., accompanied by Los Angeles attorney Robert L. Shapiro.

U.S. Magistrate Roger Curtis McKee allowed Nakatsuka to remain free on a $200,000 personal surety bond co-signed by his father and secured by a family home in Los Angeles. Prosecutors did not oppose his release and Nakatsuka was directed to return to court for a preliminary hearing April 21.

Nakatsuka ‘Surprised’

In a brief interview, Nakatsuka said he was “surprised” when friends called him Friday night and told him he was being sought by the FBI.

“I was at the office on Friday when I heard,” said Nakatsuka, a slight man dressed Tuesday in a stylish gray-striped suit and white shirt. “I didn’t know what to think. . . . I really don’t know anything about this.”

Nakatsuka, who described himself as director of security for Hamilton-Williams & Co. stock brokerage firm in Westlake Village, north of Los Angeles, said he was acquainted with Jack Norman Myers, who is among four individuals charged in the alleged money-laundering scheme and was still at large late Tuesday.

But he declined to comment on his ties to Silberman and the charges against him.

Meanwhile, Silberman--the husband of County Supervisor Susan Golding and a longtime fund-raiser for statewide and local Democratic candidates--resigned Tuesday as director and officer of Yuba Natural Resources Inc., a company principally involved in gold mining with land holdings north of Sacramento.

New Chairman Elected

At a special meeting, the company’s board of directors formed a committee to investigate Yuba’s potential involvement in the alleged scheme and elected Peter L. Jensen chairman of the board and chief executive officer. A company spokesman declined any specific comment on the case.

Silberman, 59, was arrested Friday at the Hyatt Islandia hotel while allegedly negotiating to launder $1.1 million in funds an undercover agent told him were proceeds from Colombian cocaine sales. His arrest--which was videotaped--capped a 2 1/2-year investigation by FBI agents who stumbled upon Silberman while trailing Chris Petti, a reputed organized crime figure.

Petti, 62, an alleged associate of the Chicago La Cosa Nostra crime family and once convicted of bookmaking, was also arrested Friday. Both Petti--who is being held without bail--and Silberman face charges of conspiracy, money laundering and violating laws requiring all transactions involving sums exceeding $10,000 be reported to the federal government. They could be sentenced to 20 years in prison if convicted.

A 76-page federal affidavit released Monday provided a rich, detailed look at the case against Silberman, a powerful political figure who was once a close adviser to former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. The document, filed in support of search warrants, is based on six months of wiretapped telephone conversations and meetings between the undercover FBI agent and Silberman.

Prosecutors charge that Silberman asked Petti--whom he allegedly has known for 15 years--to help arrange a money-laundering deal in mid-1988. Silberman boasted that he had laundered money in the past and sought new connections from Petti because he wanted “some diversification,” the affidavit says.

“This is not my first go-around,” Silberman is quoted in the affidavit as telling the agent. “I’ve been here before.”

Transactions Described

The affidavit describes two laundering transactions between the FBI agent and Silberman, who stood to earn a commission of between 6% and 12% on each of the alleged deals.

The first, on Nov. 30, involved $100,000 picked up by Nakatsuka at the Airport Hilton in Los Angeles. Those funds were apparently to be used in a stock swap involving Yuba American Gold, a subsidiary of Yuba Natural Resources, though prosecutors say specifics of the deal remain murky.

On Feb. 22, the second deal occurred when another $200,000 in federal money was given by the undercover agent to Myers and Nakatsuka at the Hyatt Islandia. The two men indicated in conversations with the agent that they had done such work for Silberman before. That money was exchanged for U.S. Treasury zero-coupon bonds through an employee of the Hamilton-Williams stock brokerage house, Terry Ziegler.

Transcripts of wiretapped conversations between Silberman and the agent suggest Silberman believed the money came from Colombian drug traffickers, who, according to the cover story provided by the agent, needed it hidden in investments in the United States. The affidavit alleges that Silberman frequently asked the agent not to mention the word “drugs” or “cocaine” in their discussions.

Under federal law, a person need not be laundering actual drug money to be convicted. Silberman needed only to believe its source was narcotics trafficking to be charged, prosecutors said.

Case Called ‘Very Strong’

Evidence against the powerful political fund-raiser, a La Jolla resident whose wealth was once estimated at as much as $25 million, ranges from the extensive wiretap transcripts to videotapes of the cash transactions. Prosecutors have characterized the case against him as “very strong.” A grand jury indictment is expected within 10 days.

Nakatsuka, whose role as described in the affidavit appeared limited to cash pickups and deliveries, worked as a security guard at the Hamilton-Williams stock brokerage firm but quit last week, a broker there said Tuesday. The company, located on Triunfo Canyon Road, changed its name to Adams Securities about a week ago, prosecutors said.

Ziegler--who allegedly set up the purchase of bonds in the second laundering transaction--was a “part-time analyst” for Hamilton-Williams until he quit last week, said the broker, who declined to give his name. Ziegler has not been charged but remains the target of a federal investigation.

Asked to comment on the allegations involving the brokerage house, the broker said, “Nothing went through this firm.”

An FBI spokesman said Myers was negotiating for his surrender. The spokesman said he believed Myers was being represented by attorney Howard Weitzman, who defended John Z. Delorean against cocaine-related charges. But Weitzman’s secretary said Weitzman had not been retained.

Sources have said Myers, 43, of Malibu, has been associated with Silberman since both men raised campaign funds for Brown. Myers is the former son-in-law of MCA Chairman Lew Wasserman; he and Wasserman’s daughter, Lynn, divorced about 10 years ago.

In San Diego, meanwhile, a spokeswoman for noted criminal defense attorney Milton J. Silverman said he had not yet decided whether to represent Silberman. Silverman, who handled the controversial Sagon Penn police shooting case, made a special appearance for Silberman at his arraignment Monday.

Weekend Release

Arrested Friday, Silberman spent the night at the Metropolitan Correctional Center before his release Saturday on a $500,000 personal surety bond co-signed by Golding. On Tuesday, some attorneys expressed surprise that a magistrate agreed to free Silberman over the weekend, while others said it was a common practice.

“I’ve never had anybody released on the weekend in 17 years of practicing law,” said defense attorney Jan Ronis, noting, however, that he had never had a client “of that stature” arrested on a Friday evening or weekend.

At least one prosecutor, who asked not to be named, also said the procedure had never been used for a defendant in any of his cases.

Veteran defense attorney John Cleary, however, said he has frequently obtained the release of clients on Saturdays and Sundays--including low-income clients he represented while working for Federal Defenders Inc.

“If the case has merit, and the client can make bail, I don’t hesitate,” Cleary said, adding that he has driven to the homes of judges after hours and once tracked a magistrate to a golf course to obtain the signature needed to permit the release.

“Usually, they are eminently reasonable about it and understand that people don’t like to sit in jail all weekend if they don’t have to,” Cleary said. He noted that prosecutors have a say in the decision and argued that the system is “heavily weighted in favor of caution.”

Magistrate McKee, who arranged Silberman’s release at the request of defense attorney Lou Katz on Saturday, said he has approved weekend releases six or seven times since the first of this year. He said magistrates serve on a two-week rotating stint, during which they must be available for nighttime and weekend requests for release as well as for search warrants.

“In this case, the proposals made sense, so I did it,” said McKee, adding that his primary concern is being assured the person will return to court. “If someone else had been on duty they would have made the decision.”