Firm Accused of Swindling Oil-Gas Investors Closes

A Huntington Beach company that sold limited partnership interests in oil and gas ventures has closed its doors amid assertions that it swindled elderly investors out of more than $25 million with promises of oil wells that never existed or weren’t operating.

Pacific Coast Financial Securities Inc., in a notice to about 1,100 investors, blamed its demise on litigation against the firm and its owners and operators.

The lawsuits charge that the company, its president, Don Tullio Morandini, and others created 30 investment funds that were “simply a scheme and a ruse” to steal money from investors.

The company and the operators also face investigations by the state Department of Corporations and the National Assn. of Securities Dealers.

The company is scheduled to relinquish its broker-dealer license by Feb. 22, officials at both agencies said.

James L. Sanders, a lawyer for Pacific Coast and Morandini, said he’s challenging the first lawsuit on grounds that it doesn’t state any legal wrongdoing.

Sanders would not comment on the second suit, which was filed Thursday, saying he hadn’t yet seen it.

Both lawsuits charge that the company targeted elderly residents and guaranteed high returns of 11% or more.

“People were told these investments were safe, they were backed by government bonds, they could get their money back at any time,” said Steven M. Green, a San Diego lawyer who filed suit in May in Orange County Superior Court.