Judge Reduces Bail in Fraud Case

A Riverside County Superior Court judge Wednesday lowered bail from $144 million to $5 million for James B. Duncan, charged with masterminding a major securities and mortgage fraud based in Murrieta that caused hundreds of investors in California and Arizona to lose about $17 million in cash and pushed 201 Riverside County homes into foreclosure.

In setting the bail, Judge Richard Fields commented on the extraordinary seriousness of the alleged crime, in which some people lost their life savings, and said that record would tend to put the public in jeopardy if Duncan were released.

He also said the millions of dollars of money lost and unaccounted for in the various investment schemes outlined in court by the district attorney could give Duncan "reason to flee and live comfortably."

If Duncan, 38, manages to post bail, Fields said, "I want to know the source of those funds," to make certain they are not ill-gotten gains.

In refusing to agree to the district attorney's demand to keep the bail at $144 million, Fields said he was swayed by the arguments of Duncan's lawyer, Catherine Corcoran, that Duncan has no previous criminal record and that in the years since he has been under investigation, starting in 2007, he has not attempted to flee, continued to reside with his wife and three children in Murrieta and surrendered his passport to the FBI.

Duncan was one of seven defendants arrested and jailed Nov. 19 and charged in a wide-ranging criminal complaint that contains 249 felony counts, including securities fraud, grand theft, elder abuse and corporate identity theft.

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Judge Reduces Bail for Defendant in Fraud Case