GHOSTS OF THE PAST REAPPEAR
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S&L fraud suspect found dead; Suicide possible in Corson case

JENNIFER LIEBRUM, LYNWOOD ABRAM, JERRY URBAN; Staff

The Houston Chronicle; A; Pg. 35

November 5, 1992, Thursday, 2 STAR Edition

Former Houston developer Robert Louis Corson, described as one of the Justice Department's top 10 targets for prosecution of suspected savings-and-loan fraud, was found dead in an El Paso motel room Wednesday of an apparent drug overdose.

"The people around him will fight to create that image that he was a beaten man," Craig said, "but I know there are a lot of people who wanted Robert L. Corson dead."

Corson, 45, who apparently moved to a Phoenix suburb after being indicted here last year, was en route to Houston to face charges that include conspiracy, money laundering and misapplication of funds.
His attorney, Jose Gonzalez-Falla, said Corson was depressed about returning for a Nov. 23 appearance with his mother, Billie Jean Garman, and business associate Billy W. Chester before U.S. District Judge David M. Hittner.

Federal prosecutors have said they believe Corson's 1986 purchase of Vision Banc Savings Association of Kingsville triggered a series of illegal loans totaling more than $ 29 million.
A 23-count indictment charged Corson, Garman and Chester with pocketing more than $ 8 million from those loans to pay off real estate deals and other debts, including Garman's gambling debts.
At the time of the indictment, U.S.Attorney Ron Woods said the Vision Banc prosecution was ""one of the Top 10'' on the U.S. Justice Department's ""Top 100'' list of thrifts in which massive fraud was suspected of playing a major role in their collapse.
If convicted on all counts, Corson faced up to 135 years in prison and $ 4.5 million in fines.
A maid at the La Quinta in west El Paso found Corson unconscious in his room just after noon, El Paso Police Sgt. Jerry Ybarra said. His body was surrounded by several bottles emptied of undisclosed types of pills, police said.
He was declared dead about an hour later at an El Paso hospital.
No suicide note was found. Police would not say whether they suspect the apparent overdose was accidental or suicide. But Ybarra said foul play had been ruled out, and it appeared Corson was alone.
Corson was last heard from about 8 p.m. Tuesday night when he called his son in Houston, Ybarra said.
But a retired private investigator who has been doing research into Corson and his alleged exploits urged El Paso authorities not to rule out murder before declaring the death a suicide.
""He does not fit the profile of a person who commits suicide,'' former private eye John R.Craig said. ""This is a cold-blooded survivor. And what was he faced with? A few years in jail, some fines. He was young.
""The people around him will fight to create that image that he was a beaten man,'' Craig said, ""but I know there are a lot of people who wanted Robert L. Corson dead. ''
Craig claimed Corson had turned government informant and was helping prosecutors explore other savings-and-loan debacles, which was leading to players in the Iran-Contra affair and narcotics traffickers.
Corson was ""trying to work out a deal for himself,'' Craig said. ""You wouldn't believe who is on the list of people he could inform on. ''
Corson's attorney said his client's despondency was compounded by publication of ""The Mafia, CIA & George Bush,'' a book by a former Houston Post reporter that associates him with the Central Intelligence Agency and indirectly with organized crime activity.
But author Pete Brewton suggested that if publicity had driven Corson to take his own life, it was two years late, because his newspaper ran most of the same information two years before the book's publication.
""He didn't seem very despondent then,'' Brewton said.
Corson had been out of jail on a $ 50,000 unsecured personal recognizance bond and living most recently in Paradise Valley, Ariz.
His court-appointed attorney, Gonzalez-Falla, said he expected to meet with Corson on Friday for a pretrial conference in preparation for trial.
Corson and Garman, who controlled Vision Banc's three-person loan committee, allegedly approved four loans in June 1986 totaling $ 20.4 million to ""straw borrowers'' -- loan customers who sign loan papers but have no intention of paying back the proceeds.
About $ 15 million allegedly went to former Houston developer William Michael Adkinson and others who were accused of using a maze of corporations to fraudulently finance the purchase of a 21,000-acre undeveloped strip along the Florida Gulf Coast.
A Florida indictment alleged that the defendants overstated purchase prices and fees on loan applications to Vision Banc and Hill Financial Services of Red Hill, Pa., secured title to the property without any liens and resold it to others, including the state of Florida, at inflated prices.
A second deal allegedly involved a May 1986 loan for $ 5.9 million ostensibly for a 138-acre Fort Worth development called Southfield Joint Venture I.Almost $ 800,000 of that loan was allegedly siphoned off to Corson, Garman and Chester.

Corson and Garman, who controlled Vision Banc's three-person loan committee, allegedly approved four loans in June 1986 totaling $ 20.4 million to ""straw borrowers'' -- loan customers who sign loan papers but have no intention of paying back the proceeds.
About $ 15 million allegedly went to former Houston developer William Michael Adkinson and others who were accused of using a maze of corporations to fraudulently finance the purchase of a 21,000-acre undeveloped strip along the Florida Gulf Coast."

"Federal bank examiners last year chastised the bank for making more than $2 million in loans to Hawaiian investors, their associates and a Las Vegas casino. Examiners said the bank also extended too much credit to a holding company board director who operates financially troubled Global International Airways Corp."