Venezia: Fraud case results in one fancy auction

The first time I encountered Tiffeny Cook, vice president of Tranzon Asset Strategies in Irvine, was back in 2013, when her company was tasked to auction Andy Crean’s waterfront Villa Nova Restaurant, which ultimately sold for $6.3 million.

The next time our paths crossed that year was when Tranzon auctioned off Newport Beach’s Village Crean Estate, the longtime home of Crean’s parents, John and Donna.

The Village Crean held special memories for me since it also was the place where my comedy cooking show, “At Home on the Range,” was taped. Crean and I created over 228 episodes in his garage, many of which can be seen on YouTube or at hotrange.com these days.

Cook’s company took all of about a half-hour to sell the property for $10.6 million to Newport Beach resident Jim Glidewell. As I watched the quick-paced auction, years of memories flooded my thoughts. It was an end of an era.

So when Cook contacted me again this week, I was curious as to what was on the auction block this time.

She tells me her company has been hired by the Orange County district attorney’s office to sell items owned by Michael Vincent Petronella and his wife, Devon Lynn Kile.

The auction will take place at 4 p.m. Oct. 8 in a ballroom at the Wyndham Hotel in Irvine by John Wayne Airport, 17941 Von Karman Ave.

If the names Petronella and Kile ring a bell, it’s probably because their workers’ compensation insurance fraud case was big news back in 2009-10.

To recap, Petronella and wife, Kile, owned three general contracting businesses, including Petronella Roofing in Costa Mesa and Cathedral City.

They were arrested in 2009 and eventually convicted of workers’ comp insurance fraud, each receiving 10-year sentences.

At the time it was touted as the biggest insurance fraud case in California history.

“State officials and prosecutors say the couple operated a $38 million workers’ compensation insurance-fraud scheme,” the Orange County Register reported in November 2010.

The paper quoted prosecutors explaining, “Petronella and Kile declined to pay for employees’ insurance and taxes, and instead used the money for personal expenses, including buying two Ferraris, hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry, and Gucci, Chanel and Burberry handbags and shoes.”

What also made the arrest juicy tabloid fodder was the fact that Kile was being considered for the “Real Housewives” television franchise.

So what happen to all this couple’s ill-gotten spoils?

Cook says initially vehicles and equipment from Petronella Roofing were sold in 2010.

Most of the real estate, a home in Laguna Hills, a condo in Aliso Viejo, a condo in the desert, and the commercial real estate in Cathedral City, were over-leveraged and went back to the lenders.

And the majority of their personal vehicles, including a Bentley, Ferrari and Range Rover, were leased. However, there was a second Ferrari, a 1987 Testarossa, and that will be included in the upcoming auction.

What can bidders expect?

Most of the items were owned by Kile, among them 10 to 20 pairs of Christian Louboutin shoes — still in the boxes with price tags — that had never been worn.

Cook estimates that 60% to 70% of the shoes in the auction are brand new, as are a “large number of handbags and clothing.”

More than 75 pairs of shoes, size 7.5, by Christian Louboutin, Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Manolo Blahnik, Gucci, Jimmy Choo and more will go to the highest bidder.

More than 50 handbags by Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry and others will be offered.

Designer clothing includes Versace, Stella McCartney, Missoni, Mara Hoffman and Diane Von Furstenberg.

And let’s not forget about the jewelry — a 10-carat diamond ring, a diamond cuff bracelet and diamond hoop earrings, as well as Rolex, Cartier, Chopard, Panerai and Breitling watches.

“We will be doing live and online bidding, and the entire catalog will be posted the week of the sale for people to view along with photos, Cook said.

You can check it out at to see auction items.

For those wishing to view items in person, they will be available starting at 1 p.m. the day of the auction in the Wyndham ballroom.

The auction is open to the public. Bidders will be required to post a refundable $500 cash deposit. Deposits will be applied to any purchases, otherwise they’ll be returned.

All items must be paid for by noon the day after the auction. Cook says payment can be made by cash, cashier’s check, wire transfer, VISA or MasterCard.

There is no fee to attend the auction, and proceeds will ultimately go to a recovery fund.

Cook estimates the auction will have anywhere from 350 to 400 items owned by this notorious couple.

BARBARA VENEZIA lives in Newport Beach. She can be reached at [email protected]. Listen to her weekly radio segment on “Sunday Brunch with Tom and Lynn” from 11 a.m. to noon on KOCI/101.5 FM.