'I've been kind of a frugal investor'

<p>Paul Montgomery of Santa Rosa invested $50,000 through AGA Financial after friends who had seen steady returns recommended the firm.</p><p>The 79-year-old retired sheet metal worker began his career as an apprentice in 1949 making $1 an hour. He wasn't interested in risking his life savings, just putting the money to work for him.</p><p>"I've been kind of a frugal investor," Montgomery said.</p><p>He met with Gary Armitage in 2006 and agreed to invest in an 89-unit senior care center in Northridge.</p><p>Armitage urged him to invest $100,000 in the venture, but Montgomery balked, worried about putting all his savings in one place. He decided to invest half of the amount.</p><p>For several months, he enjoyed $333 a month in dividends on his investment, a healthy 8 percent return.</p><p>Then in the summer of 2007, the payments "began to sputter," and soon stopped entirely, he said.</p><p>He started to get worried, but Armitage assured him he'd get his money back.</p><p>Last March, the care center was sold. Montgomery's financial statement showed he received a little more than $11,000 back from the sale.</p><p>He doesn't know where the rest of his money went, and Armitage has never given him a clear answer.</p><p>Montgomery is cooperating with the state attorney general's probe, and hopes to somehow recover his investment.</p><p>"I have heard about things like this happening, but I never imagined I'd be caught up in one," he said. "The only thing I can do is hold my head up and keep going.</p><p>-- Kevin McCallum</p>