Religiosity is an essential aspect of the William Park ethos. He grew up in and out of Mexico, following his father, a pastor, on missionary work. "He speaks better Spanish than he does English," Brown said, finishing half of her pesto-and-mozzarella panino. Park attends weekly Bible study classes at his Baptist church, and signs his e-mails with a litany of religious passages.
In all, he strikes one as a pious, stand-up guy, someone who can lecture exhaustively on the necessities of integrity, character and honesty in our daily interactions. He seems like you can trust him. Believe him. Maybe even, if the setting were right, give him hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Photo by Chris Curry
Before Helena Brown got into office, she posted numerous rants commingling Catholic dogmas with conservative doctrine to a private Google Group called "Friends of Freedom." There is an "infiltration of commies in the church who like to teach liberation 'theology,' open borders, and social 'justice' all against what is true Catholic teaching," she wrote January 3, 2011. "It makes me sick!"
Photo by Chris Curry
Houston City Council meetings on Tuesdays begin at 1:30 p.m., but Council Member Helena Brown usually doesn't show up until around 2 p.m., often one of the last people to take her seat in the chambers.
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Of the many alleged financial victims — we counted 17 spanning numerous dealings — dotting Park's past, the story of a woman named Fran Combe, 72, of Pasadena, California, seems emblematic. She first met William Park in 2006 in Los Angeles. She and her husband, George, wanted to alter their insurance plan with a company called Waddell & Reid, and Park was sent out to help.
Park rolled up to her house in a red truck and talked with the Combes for a long while. During the conversation, Park smiled, displayed a quick intellect and spoke about his family. He also asked if the Combes, who were retired, were interested in investing in a company that would make them a lot of money. The company, called Provident Royalties, was involved in oil and shale exploration near Park's home in Texas and he informed Fran that people all over the nation who invested with him were bringing in incredible returns — 18 percent monthly.
"He said, 'My mother's a retired teacher and has limited funds and I put her in this,'" Combe recalled Park saying. "So I really believed him." She signed a check for $25,000 over to Park's company, United Equity Securities. He was just so likable and smart, and seemed to know everything about investments, Combe said. They couldn't help it.
And just as Park predicted, the returns were indeed incredible. Another check for $4,500 materialized every month in her mailbox. Like magic. Over time, as the retired couple came to trust Park, a change in their relationship occurred. He wasn't Mr. Park, the investment broker; he was William, a friend.
Combe and her husband, George, got a call from Park nearly every month, saying he was in Los Angeles. He'd ask how they were and whether they wanted to join him and his girlfriend, Sonie Kim, for lunch or dinner downtown. Or he'd ask George if he wanted to go golfing. During these occasions, Park would be expansive, pontificating on conservative politics, and recommend books the couple should read. Sometimes, he'd talk about his faith.
But Fran's husband had some concerns. The money just seemed too easy, he said.
"What are you worried about?" Park told him. "Relax and enjoy it. This is a very solid investment. This is what the oil and gas industry is all about — it's paying out." So Fran and George Combe did exactly that, giving him another $75,000 to drop into Provident Royalties. And then they pumped an additional $125,000 into other funds he recommended.
As the years passed, certain things about Park surfaced that did seem strange, however, Combe said. "He's just a rabid, rabid Republican. In 2008, William ran a marathon in Houston, wearing a shirt that was derogatory toward Obama. William hated him. Hated Obama." She added: "People were really disturbed."
Not long after, the notices started arriving. One of the companies the Combes had invested in had gone bankrupt. In one day, the retired couple lost $70,000. Fran Combe called Park.
"Speak to us in plain English!" she remembers yelling at him. "Don't give us this investor jargon. What happened?"
"Don't worry," he said. "I think we can salvage this."
But, of course, they couldn't. That was the last time the Combes ever heard from Park — he just "evaporated." But the notices didn't. They kept coming in the mail, more letters, more losses. Next it was Provident Royalties, which wasn't a shale and oil investor but a nationwide, $485 million Ponzi scheme involving 61 broker-dealers and thousands of unwitting investors. Investors in Provident whose accounts were handled by United Equity Securities lost more than $660,000, according to court files. At the same time, United had amassed $173,200 in commissions.
Gary Skinner, 63, of Oldsmar, Florida, who got taken for $195,000 by Park's company, said: "I'm retired. This hurt big-time." Even Park's girlfriend, Sonie Kim, lost $35,000 to Park, according to a lawsuit she filed against him and won.
Park's legal trouble hit a crescendo in late April 2011 when the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority barred him from the brokerage industry. By that time, United Equity Securities had already disappeared.
While all of this was transpiring, Park, incredibly enough, opened another company, named Park Integrity Productions, and started making movies. Traumatically awful movies. Films like Scouts Honor, which follows fallen Saturday Night Live actor Chris Kattan as his character tries to win a competition in a scout camp. It earned some truly hilarious customer reviews: "(Shaking my head.) It's a big stinking pile of crap. I might have cracked a smile once in a while thinking, OMG, WTH were the producers thinking?!?"
