Sentence Delayed for Restaurant Owner

The sentencing for Phau Lam has been delayed once again.  You may recall our original story from two years ago that documented how Lam continued to charge his customers’ credit cards for meals they never ate, even after he shut down his Chinese restaurant.  When we tried to question him, Lam ran and didn’t stop until he was out of sight.

Lam pleaded guilty in December, but the judge would not accept the deal with prosecutors.  Lam told an interviewer with the Probation Department, “I am innocent. I only pleaded guilty because my lawyers told me to.”  Lam’s public defender argued there was a misunderstanding – that something got lost in the translation.  So, the judge ordered another interview to make sure Lam is accepting responsibility.   

Well, the new probation report didn’t arrive on Judge Charles Haines’ desk until this morning, and he says he needs more time to digest what he called “a complicated case”.  He was also troubled by comments from the Probation Department in court today, that the probation officer who took Lam’s original statement speaks Cantonese – even speaks Lam’s dialect – and that the officer showed Lam’s initial statement to the defendant before submitting it to the court.  It looks like the judge might be thinking that 3 years is not enough for 37 counts of identity theft, forgery and credit card fraud.

Boat Crash: “Wrong Man Charged”

One thing we haven’t explored in this sad case is Lynn Thornton’s career.  Just a few months before the crash on Clear Lake that took her life, Lynn had retired after more than 25 years in law enforcement.  She was an investigator for the State Department of Consumer Affairs.  Her family now says she would be terribly upset with the way her case is being handled, that the wrong man is being charged.

We’ve been reporting for the past year and a half that a power boat driven by the number two official in the Lake County Sheriff’s Office slammed into a sailboat carrying Lynn and her friends.  The power boat operator, Russell Perdock, admitted going as fast as 45 miles an hour on a dark, moonless night. Yet, it’s the man who happened to be sitting at the tiller of the sailboat who is facing charges in Lynn’s death.

Her family sent letters to the judge in the case this week, urging him to reduce the charges from felony manslaughter and boating under the influence to misdemeanors.  You can read the letters from Lynn’s brothers and her sister in law here.  We’ll be there in court tomorrow to report what happens with the defense motion.

And, you can watch all of our investigations on this case at the links below.  As always, we welcome your comments.

• Fatal boat crash: Wrong man charged?
• Fatal boat crash: Witnesses tell different story
• Lawsuit negotiations in fatal boat crash
• Unusual tactics by boat crash investigators
• Dept. of Justice to investigate boat crash
• Official changing story in fatal boat crash
• Court appearance in fatal boat crash case
• Fatal boat crash: Conflict of interest?
• Preliminary hearing into Clear Lake boat crash
• Lawsuits settled: Perdock Gets Mothing

New Muni Altercation on Tape

Here’s the video at the center of today’s story. It picks up after about ten children from the Lycée Français La Pérouse boarded a crowded Muni bus yesterday on the 33 line heading outbound. The videographer tells us the driver yelled for passengers to move back, but an older man yells back with an expletive that there’s no more room. The driver answers with his own expletives and tells the man to get off the bus. He agrees, does so, and stands on the sidewalk yelling back at the driver. According to the videographer, the driver then jumps off the bus, pushes the older man to the ground, and puts his hand on his neck. That’s where the video picks up.

Of course, as we’ve seen before, the surveillance video from the bus would tell the whole story – with at least four camera angles and audio. Late today, Muni released this statement, saying they launched an investigation after we brought it to their attention and have placed the employee on non-driving status.

By the way, we used Twitter and Facebook today to try to track down other people who were on the bus and witnessed what happened. It generated an interesting debate over at SFist.com.

Psychic's Surprise “Guilty” Plea

Psychic scams have a lasting impact. San Mateo County psychic Janet Adams pleaded “guilty” today to elder fraud, for bilking an 85 year-old woman out of $93,000. Another of her victims was there in court, as well – a businesswoman who gave Adams $90,000 in 2003. The businesswoman’s complaint led to Adams’ first conviction. At the time, the psychic was ordered to pay restitution to the businesswoman, but hasn’t. The businesswoman, who once again asked us today not to be identified, wasn’t quite sure why she came to court. And, the hearing didn’t seem to provide much closure. She was unsatisfied with the sentence (up to 6 years) that Adams faces, and she’s unhappy that she hasn’t been repaid. We’ve seen time and again how people lose their savings and have a hard time recovering. Sad all around.

On our psychic investigation from last night, we’ve been getting a lot of feedback, especially about an Oakland psychic named Anthony putting what he called “a gypsy curse” on me. It appears as though Anthony has some remorse about our interaction. Here’s one of the comments he left on our story page:

oaklandpsychic 2/6/09 3:40 AM EST
i also like to say i am very sorry for the things that i told you dan i am not that kind of person and i dont put gypsy curse on people that is just so not real i am really sorry so useing the bad words in front you and the cam lady

We’re pretty sure it’s Anthony. Unless you were there that day, you probably wouldn’t know I was working with a female photographer.

More leads are coming in about the Bay Area’s psychic scene, and it’s a fascinating subculture. If you have any information, please call our tip line 1-888-40-I-Team or send me an e-mail through this site.

The Gypsy Curse: Psychic Investigation

If you watched tonight's story, you know that a psychic who operates under the name Anthony put what he called a "gypsy curse" on me. He told me I was going to "get hurt", and even that I was "going to die". It all happened after we asked some pointed questions about the fortune telling business he runs on 17th Street in downtown Oakland.

One of the lessons we learned during this investigation is that psychics are often not who they say they are. So before our interview with Anthony, we checked out the business tax license for his shop. The owner's name came back as Venus Yonko.

Yonko is an infamous name among East Bay law enforcement. Back in 2001, members of the Yonko family were convicted of conning 11 elderly victims out of more than $1.3 million. They told victims they were investing in a drapery business that sold curtains to Las Vegas hotels, and an olive plantation in Italy, among other lies. Some lost their entire life-savings.

The Yonkos also ran a string of psychic businesses on the side. And like Anthony, the Yonkos are Roma, commonly known as gypsies -- an ethnic group with its own language and culture that traces its roots back to India.

George Yonko

George and Sylvia Yonko were sentenced to 10 years in state prison, and their three children and two daughters-in-law got suspended prison sentences for their role in the scam.

When we asked Anthony about Venus Yonko, he denied knowing anyone by that name. But after we pressed him, he told us that the Venus Yonko on his business license was his wife -- a woman he'd introduced to us earlier as Kathy.

You can watch a video clip of that exchange here.

After we showed Anthony mug shots of the Yonko family, he disappeared into a back room, then came back with a phone. He handed it to me, and the woman on the other end of the line told me she was Sylvia Yonko.

Sylvia told me that Anthony's wife was a cousin of hers, which just goes to show that when it comes to gypsy psychics, it's a small world.

In our research, we did not find any evidence that either Anthony or his wife has a criminal record.

On a side-note, we checked out two other businesses Anthony said he owned, and the name on the tax license was Peter George, which Anthony later admitted is his real name.

Millions for Muni Accidents

The Municipal Transportation Agency Board approved the latest round of settlements for claims against the system today. This includes the case of Joyce Lam, a 76 year-old woman killed by a cable car in 2006, as we reported in a follow-up to our investigation into cable car safety. We first compared the accident and injury rate of San Francisco’s cable cars to all other forms of public transportation in 1998, and found the alarming headline – cable cars are the most dangerous form of public transportation in the country.

As part of today’s report, I requested updated data on the MTA safety records for the different modes of transportation. The only information I received was this chart showing the type and number of claims filed against MUNI for the past six fiscal years and the costs associated with those claims. Last year, the MTA paid out $11,389,042.46.