Lake Elsinore Stadium Motocross Scam

Check out the following story from today's online edition of the North County Times concerning an arrest in a scam case involving a minor league baseball stadium The Diamond in Lake Elsinore, California....
 

Prosecutor: Canyon Lake man arrested in alleged stadium scam
By: JOHN HALL - Staff Writer

RIVERSIDE ---- A Canyon Lake man is scheduled to be arraigned today for what prosecutors say was a scam involving The Diamond baseball stadium in Lake Elsinore.

Officials identified the man as John Mark, 53. He was arrested Thursday morning when authorities served search warrants at his home and at a Beverly Hills post office box belonging to him, Deputy District Attorney Michael Silverman said Monday.

The criminal complaint against Mark alleges that five victims were defrauded of an estimated $215,000 from March 2003 through April 2004, the prosecutor said.


"We are also reviewing documents seized during the search warrants to see if any further charges might be filed against him," Silverman said.

As of Monday, Mark had been charged with 15 felony counts ---- five each of grand theft in excess of $400, selling false securities, and securities fraud, according to Riverside Superior Court records.

There are also additional enhancements alleging white collar crime in excess of $100,000 and taking property in excess of $150,000 during the commission of a felony, court records state.

"He claimed that he was selling stock in a company that was going to buy The Diamond and build a motocross track, then broadcast events there all over the world," Silverman said.

The prosecutor said he didn't know if the supposed purchase of the stadium involved it being demolished and replaced by the track or whether the track would be connected to the stadium.

Silverman said that whatever the plan was involving Mark's company, Enjoy Arts Inc., it didn't actually exist.

The victims were primarily motorcycle enthusiasts, he added.

After his arrest, Mark was booked at Southwest Detention Center in French Valley where he was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, according to jail records.

He is scheduled to be arraigned at the Hall of Justice in Riverside this afternoon, court records state.

Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.