CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM FINANCIAL MORTGAGE COMPANYModbee.com | The Modesto BeePolice probe DreamLife break-in
Files, computers taken from branch closed on McHenry, then dumped

By TODD MILBOURN
BEE STAFF WRITER


Last Updated: December 24, 2004, 06:11:36 AM PST


Police are investigating a burglary at the McHenry Avenue branch of DreamLife Financial, the Modesto-headquartered mortgage company whose chief executive officer, Tony Daniloo, has been jailed on suspicion of felony grand theft.
Police responded to a call Thursday morning that somebody was hauling computers and other equipment from DreamLife, which went out of business last week amid Daniloo's mounting financial and legal woes.

In a parking garage below the building at 3524 McHenry Ave., investigators found a stolen Chevrolet Silverado truck with DreamLife computer hard drives and fax machines in the bed and checks and other documents in the cab.

The vehicle's driver fled before police arrived, leaving behind papers strewn on the garage floor around the vehicle.

Police don't have a suspect and the tipster did not provide a description of the driver, Lt. Dave Cooperider said. But the burglar did leave some identifying information in the truck, police said.

Cooperider said the perpetrator had a key to the DreamLife office; there was no forced entry. Police said they were unsure whether the burglar made off with anything.

Earlier this week, federal investigators raided two of DreamLife's Modesto offices and Daniloo's Turlock home in search of loan and computer records, among other things. Investigators did not search the McHenry Avenue loan office, one of seven operated by DreamLife until the company folded Dec. 16.

In an affidavit filed to obtain the search warrants, IRS investigators wrote that they suspect Daniloo and DreamLife of bank fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering. The affidavit also cites an account that a DreamLife employee shredded documents in the days surrounding the company's demise.

Daniloo, 30, and his wife, Nansi Masihi Daniloo, 29, were arrested at their Turlock home during Monday's raid. They are charged in Alameda County with multiple felony counts of grand theft and, because some alleged crimes were perpetrated against an elderly woman, several counts of elder abuse.

If convicted, Tony Daniloo faces a maximum of 30 years in state prison; Nansi Daniloo, who allegedly assisted her husband, faces a maximum of seven years. A bail hearing for Tony Daniloo, currently jailed in Alameda County, is scheduled for Tuesday. Nansi Daniloo is free on bail.

The couple came under scrutiny in recent months after making record-setting pledges totaling $5.5 million to Turlock's Emanuel Medical Center and California State University, Stanislaus. Both pledges were rejected after the Daniloos' financial and legal problems were detailed in a Dec. 12 article in The Bee.

The Silverado involved in Thursday's burglary had been stolen Dec. 11 in east Modesto. The truck's owner was not a former employee of DreamLife and had never even heard of the company, Cooperider said.

"We don't know what the connection is between the suspect from this morning's incident and how they got the keys (to the DreamLife office) or how they got the stolen truck," Cooperider said.

Police said it's also too early to tell whether the burglary was an attempt to destroy potential evidence or merely a coincidence.

But as Derrick Letsinger, an investigator at the scene, pointed out: "The timing is very interesting."