Homebuilder, wife sentenced in grand theft case
| Thursday, Dec 03 2009 05:17 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Dec 03 2009 05:18 PM
A Bakersfield homebuilder was sentenced Thursday to three years, four months in prison for a plea to grand theft that diverted more than $339,000 given to him by 11 clients.
Donald Juhasz was ordered to repay that amount, plus an undetermined loss to a finance company, but any substantial collection may have to be worked out after he gets out of prison, the prosecutor said.
His wife, Denise, was charged in the same case, but it could not be proven that she knew money was being diverted away from the property it was intended for, Deputy District Attorney Richard Jackson said.
Therefore, although she also pleaded no contest to a grand theft charge, she was sentenced to the two days she already served in jail, five years probation, $270 in fines and an undetermined amount of restitution. She will also have to do 100 hours of community service.
The couple filed for bankruptcy in 2007, listing debts of $6.4 million and assets of $3.7 million, most of that in real estate.
It was about the time of the bankruptcy that the victims realized that money they paid for property and construction had been diverted elsewhere, the prosecutor said.
The only restitution Mrs. Juhasz faces is to Creative Mortgage Co., the finance company that loaned the $339,000 to the clients, Jackson said. But those loans were secured by property and the property went back to the finance company, he said.
Creative Mortgage Co. is still trying to determine what loss it sustained. The amount of restitution to it will be established at a later court hearing, Jackson said. Donald Juhasz is also liable for restitution to the finance company, he said.
Bill Slocumb, the attorney for Mrs. Juhasz, has said her husband got caught up in a rapid rise and fall of the local real estate market. His business was called DMJ Customs Inc.
