Irvine Woman, Son Must Repay Ostrich Investors

A mother and son accused by securities regulators of swindling investors out of almost $820,000 in an Orange County-based ostrich farm scam have been ordered to repay investors and were barred from future violations of securities law.

In a civil complaint last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Loretta Antrim, 71, of Irvine, and her son, Patrick L. Antrim, 49, of Trabuco Canyon, sold contracts for the sale and boarding of breeding pairs of ostriches to 83 investors.

Patrick Antrim was half-owner of Ostrich Group Inc., now defunct, regulators said. The SEC also sued David Hudson III, of Garden Grove, Antrim’s partner in the company, and Michael S. Whitney, of Irvine, an officer. Loretta Antrim was a director, according to the suit.

The Antrims, the suit alleged, promised investors “fabulous returns” from the sale of ostrich meat. But the Antrims used most of the money on personal expenses rather than to buy and breed ostriches, the SEC alleged.

In a final judgment entered late last month in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the Antrims were barred from such activities in the future and were ordered to repay the $819,108.61--plus interest--that they had collected from investors from late 1995 through mid-1997.

An SEC spokeswoman said that the agency has no way of knowing whether the Antrims are able to repay the money, but that the order gives the SEC the ability to attach their assets and future incomes.

The Antrims could not be reached for comment.

The SEC’s suit against Whitney is scheduled for trial in July. A default ruling has been entered in the suit against Hudson, who did not reply to the court’s hearing notices, the SEC spokeswoman said Friday. A judgment against Hudson has not yet been prepared, she said.