The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, January 15, 1995               TAG: 9501150068
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                     LENGTH: Long  :  129 lines

HEAVEN KNOWS WHERE FERNANDO ZAPICO IS ``UNSOLVED MYSTERIES'' AIMS TO FIND OUT

When Carlos Garcia joined the close-knit Catholic community of Hispanic Apostolate Cristo Rey in 1983, he brought many gifts to the growing congregation.

As an accomplished tax preparer, he helped congregants with their taxes, using his company, Eastern Tax Service Inc., to file claims with the Internal Revenue Service.

With a warm and engaging personality, Garcia quickly befriended church members who came to regard him as an ideal member, a comforting father figure and conscientious Christian.

In time, he became president of the parish council, which, under his leadership, provided immigration information, job-training skills, translations, doctor referrals and a hot line for battered women.

So successful were his efforts, that in 1992, Bishop Walter F. Sullivan of the Archdiocese in Richmond gave the Apostolate the annual ministry award.

But federal authorities believe Garcia's greatest gift was con artistry, a charge that led to his indictment last September on 13 felony counts, including bank fraud, false representation as a U.S citizen and possession of firearms.

Garcia, whose real name is Fernando Zapico, was arrested at his home on Laurie Court in Charlestowne Lakes South on Nov. 5. He was charged under immigration laws and bond was set at $5,000.

He promptly disappeared.

Federal authorities now have help from ``Unsolved Mysteries,'' the crime-based television show that enlists viewers nationwide in law enforcement's search for felons.

For three days, the television show has been filming in Virginia Beach, recreating scenes from Zapico's life for a show to be aired this spring. Saturday, the film crew spent the day at the home of Mark and Leli Pond in Broad Bay Point Greens in Great Neck.

The Ponds never knew Garcia, nor was their home ever the site of a crime he is alleged to have committed. Their home is simply large enough to accommodate the film crew.

Today, the crew will set up at Church of the Holy Family, where the Hispanic Apostolate Cristo Rey celebrates Mass.

``It's like he fell off the face of the earth,'' Thomas S. Sochor, senior special agent with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said of Zapico. ``He's very clever, very intelligent and he's been running a lot longer than we've been looking for him.''

Zapico has been working con games for at least 40 years, Sochor said, and is estimated to have stolen $2 million in Hampton Roads alone.

According to the indictment, Zapico defrauded the Amphibious Base Federal Credit Union of approximately $23,653 by fraudulently securing a line of credit in a client's name. Other counts charged him with embezzling about $43,500 intended as payments to the IRS from seven taxpayers who hired him as their tax preparer. Some of those victims belonged to his church.

Other counts charged him with forging signatures on Treasury tax refund checks totalling $6,422 and payable to a client and the Woodland Avenue Baptist Church.

In addition to being wanted by Immigration, Zapico is wanted by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service Internal Security, the federal agency leading the investigation.

A native of Argentina, Zapico is thought to be living in the United States. He is wanted by the FBI on a 1989 bank fraud and embezzlement charge from Columbia, S.C., where the government alleges he stole $50,000 from banks.

``Zapico has worked all over the country, but right now our concern is with the seven Virginia Beach taxpayers who have had Treasury refund checks or tax forms stolen,'' said Diane M. Stratton, public affairs officer with the IRS.

``What we found was proof that not only did he not forward client's checks, but that he did not file their returns. We also found evidence of up to 14 different identities,'' Stratton said.

What agents found in Zapico's home last fall still makes agents shake their heads in wonder. Left behind were floral bills in excess of $900, a $40,000 telephone bill - a debt from his telemarketing company - and dozens of suits, each color-coded to match shoes, socks, ties and shirts.

``And calculators! I've never seen so many calculators in all my life,'' Sochor said. ``And he was an avid book-buyer. He bought thousands of them and kept a ledger showing each purchase. Some of them were books on how federal agencies conduct investigations and how they catch people.''

Said one agent who did not want to be identified: ``We must have found 2,000 smut magazines. I have never seen so many.''

Although Zapico, 68, never married in Virginia Beach and left behind no relatives, federal agents said he has been married at least four times.

``Unsolved Mysteries'' was the first of the hugely successful reality-based crime television shows. Now in its seventh season on NBC, the program is seen each week by an estimated 35 million viewers, said Stacy E. Schneider, segment producer for Cosgrove/Meurer Productions Inc., the Burbank, Calif., company that produces the show.

The company's Telecenter staffs a telephone bank 24 hours a day to take calls from around the country. Information is forwarded to the police agency investigating unsolved crimes.

In South Hampton Roads' Hispanic community of more than 33,000, most people simply referred to Garcia as ``Don Carlos.'' It is doubtful they knew his other names, including: John H. Rochels, Fernando Zapico, Numael Prieto, Fred Rochels and Margano Sanchez Rivera.

``He appeared to be a very caring person who was concerned about other people, who was willing to do anything to help another person. He appeared to be just a wonderful person, '' said Sister Barbara Gerwe, pastoral coordinator for Hispanic Apostolate Cristo Rey.

``Unfortunately, he turned out to be a person who had betrayed the trust that people had put it in him. The hurt was in having been betrayed by someone who many people regarded as someone who was a part of the family. Carlos had the knack of being as close as a member of the family. He was often regarded as a father, a grandfather, an uncle, brother and a friend. It was true betrayal.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

SAINTLY CHURCH LEADER OR FUGITIVE CON MAN?

Carlos Garcia, whose real name is Fernando zapico, earned the trust

and admiration of the Catholic community of Hispanic Apostolate

Cristo Rey. On Nov. 5, he was arrested on 13 felony counts. The

charges included bank fraud, possession of firearms and embezzlement

of money from taxpayers who hired him as their tax preparer. Some of

those victims belonged to his church. He was released on bond and

hasn't been seen since.

Photos

JIM WALKER/Staff

Above, officials and director Dan Gomez, fourth from left, discuss a

scene for ``Unsolved Mysteries'' about Fernando Zapico, was known in

Virginia Beach as Carlos Garcia. The fugitive is the subject of an

episode to be aired this spring. At left, Roland Branford Gomez,

playing Zapico, poses between shots.

KEYWORDS: MISSING PERSONS by CNB