THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 20, 1994 TAG: 9412200312
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Virginia's largest receivership in history will conclude soon with clients of the failed Sun Coast Realty of Virginia Beach receiving about $600,000.
About $600,000 of the approximately $1.2 million embezzled by Sun Coast Realty's owner, James E. Vaughan, has been recovered, receiver Jon D. Becker said Monday.
Becker, a Virginia Beach lawyer, was appointed by the state Attorney General's office to recover the money and reimburse about 2,300 landlords and tenants who had contracts with Sun Coast.
Vaughan, whose office was in Sandbridge, stole the money from an escrow account at Sun Coast Realty to prop up 16 other real estate partnerships he managed. The escrow account contained rent and deposit checks for resort cottages that Sun Coast Realty managed in Sandbridge and North Carolina's Outer Banks.
Vaughan was convicted of three counts of stealing and sentenced to a 15-year prison sentence in July 1993.
The receivership, which began June 18, 1992, will conclude once a federal judge approves the final accounting of money recovered and disbursed, which could be any day, Becker said.
Becker liquidated assets and negotiated settlements to raise the money that will be returned to homeowners. One disbursement occurred last year.
Homeowners and tenants who lost money in the real estate company will be the sole beneficiaries of the recovered funds, he said. His fees and those of the accountants involved will be paid by the state real estate commission. by CNB