Man Sentenced to 2 1/2 Years for Securities Fraud : Courts: Robert J. Corsaut, formerly of Costa Mesa, was also ordered to pay $1.49 million to investors whom he cheated.

LOS ANGELES —  Robert J. Corsaut, a former Costa Mesa man who defrauded churchgoers and other investors in a $1.3-million investment scheme, was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison and ordered to pay $1.49 million in restitution.

Corsaut, 47, now of Tulsa, Okla., had pleaded guilty in November to mail and securities fraud in connection with activities at his Costa Mesa company, Alpha Trust. Some of the defrauded investors were members of the nearby Joy Christian Fellowship.

“He used in his sales pitch the symbols and icons of religious belief,” Assistant U.S. Atty. John Walsh said after the sentencing in Los Angeles federal court. “He’d say, ‘God directed me to obtain your investment.’ He said things like that.”

Corsaut’s attorney, David W. Wiechert, could not be reached for comment.

Prosecutors had charged that Corsaut routinely lied to investors by telling them that their money was completely safe, that his employees received no commissions and that Alpha Trust paid a 12% annual interest rate by trading securities. None of those claims were true.

Corsaut and several family members took nearly $300,000 of the investors’ money and spent another $700,000 of the money for unauthorized purposes, according to a federal indictment issued in June.

One of Corsaut’s victims was Joretta Wilhelm, a worshiper at the Joy Christian Fellowship.

She invested her life savings of $70,000 with Alpha Trust, but later asked for it back after discovering she had a terminal illness. She wanted the money back so she could buy a home of her own in which to live out her last days.

Wilhelm’s money, however, was already spent. She died last summer in a Long Beach nursing home.

“He (Corsaut) went to Europe and bought a new Acura Legend a month after my mother requested her money,” said Wilhelm’s daughter, Lisa French. “And my mom was living in a trailer she couldn’t afford to buy because he had her money. It’s really sick.”

Formed in January, 1988, Alpha Trust raised more than $1 million from investors before it was put into receivership 18 months later by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC sued Corsaut after receiving investor complaints. But he settled the case, without admitting any guilt, by signing a consent decree in which he agreed not to violate securities laws in the future.

Corsaut, who was imprisoned 11 years ago after his conviction on bank fraud charges in Michigan, had asked U.S. District Judge Robert M. Takasugi for probation instead of a prison term. He had also promised to return $1.3 million to investors.

“He has consistently promised to pay the money back,” Walsh said. “Ten years ago in Michigan, he also promised to pay restitution but never did.”

French reacted with anger Monday to news of the sentencing, saying Corsaut should have been given a stiffer term.

“I think it’s really disgusting,” she said. “I took the time to write a letter to the judge. I put all of the energy a person could into making sure my mom’s side of the story was told. All that effort seems like it meant nothing.”

French has said her mother remembered Corsaut to her dying day.

“Near the end, she looked at me and one of the last things she said was, ‘He didn’t even seem sorry,’ ” French said.