The Region - News from July 20, 1987

A former California couple has been arrested in the St. Louis area on charges that they bilked Los Angeles County residents out of about $250,000 in a complex investment scheme, prosecutors said. FBI agents arrested Harold A. Ashley, 41, and his wife, Irena B. Ashley, 38, on a seven-count grand theft complaint filed against them in February by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. The Ashleys have been fugitives since that time but were taken into custody after being found in the St. Louis area, where they now live. Prosecutors said the charges against the former Oakland couple stem from a scheme in which they promised their victims returns 100 times higher than their original investments.