D.A. joins AGA probe

<p>The Sonoma County district attorney is getting involved in the widening fraud investigation into Santa Rosa investment firm AGA Financial.</p><p>An official from the local prosecutor's office attended a meeting this week in Sacramento of state investigators and a group of Bay Area investors seeking to learn about the probe and assist investigators.</p><p>"We are working closely with the Attorney General's Office on this pending investigation, which involves numerous seniors who have allegedly been victimized by fraud," District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua said Thursday. "This investigation covers numerous jurisdictions in the state of California."</p><p>The meeting was held Tuesday, not Thursday as previously reported in The Press Democrat.</p><p>The goal was to help open the lines of communication between investigators in the case and hundreds of potential victims, said Dana Simas, spokeswoman for the state Attorney General's Office.</p><p>"We're trying to kind of figure out how to best tackle this while still making sure that we're getting everyone," Simas said. "We can't sit down with every investor."</p><p>At the moment, investigators believe they are dealing with at least 200 investors and more than 50 investments.</p><p>"It's cumbersome," Simas said. "We need warm bodies (to help)."</p><p>Local prosecutors are being called on to assist in the investigation by interviewing potential victims, gathering evidence and forwarding the information to Sacramento, she said. The case, however, would be prosecuted by the state Attorney General's Office, she said.</p><p>"We're spearheading this investigation," Simas said.</p><p>More than two dozen people contacted The Press Democrat this week claiming they have invested money with Healdsburg resident Gary Armitage and now fear he has disappeared with their life savings.</p><p>Unable to reach Armitage or AGA Financial, many said they didn't know what to do next.</p><p>In a letter to clients earlier this month, Armitage said he was shutting down his firm because of the weak economy.</p><p>Armitage could not be reached for comment. AGA Financial's headquarters on Challenger Way was closed Thursday. No one answered the gate at Armitage's hillside home in Healdsburg.</p><p>Over many years, Armitage and partner Jeff Guidi invested clients' money in a Redding real estate investment firm that closed in June and filed for bankruptcy.</p><p>The firm, Asset Real Estate &amp; Investment Co., is now under investigation by the state Attorney General's Office.</p><p>"We recognize that many seniors have lost their life savings," Passalacqua said. "That is why we dedicated the resources to work closely with the Attorney General's Office in this matter."</p><p>Investors who fear they have been defrauded have several options.</p><p>They can contact the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office investigations bureau at 565-2011.</p><p>Or they can contact the state Attorney General's Office directly. The public information line is (800) 952-5225. Messages left on the line will be forwarded to an investigator.</p><p>People can also reach a state investigator directly. The contact person for the AGA Financial/AREI case is Carlos Casillas, senior legal analyst with the Department of Justice's Special Crimes Unit. Casillas can be reached at (916) 445-8205 or carlos.casillas@doj.ca.gov</p><p>People who believe they have been the victim of elder abuse or fraud can contact the Council on Aging at 525-0143.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemo</p><p>crat.com.</p>