Police Re-Arrest Man on Fraud Charges

A man previously convicted of defrauding victims of $300,000 in Redondo Beach was re-arrested in Irvine on Tuesday, Huntington Beach police said.

William Scott Spalding, 46, is accused of starting a scam while he was still in federal prison and swindling at least one victim out of $280,000, according to Huntington Beach police Lt. Russell Reinhart. Spalding was originally released early from prison so he could pay restitution to the victims of the Redondo Beach fraud scheme.

He was originally sentenced to 40 months in federal prison after he pretended to be a major film producer, Reinhart said.

Police believe the most recent victim, who is from Huntington Beach, attempted to buy gold from Spalding. Investigators tried calling him, but his phone was off and the business address given was fake, police said.

Because Spalding was found with expensive cars, watches and cigars and living in an expensive rental home, investigators think he defrauded more than one victim, police said.

Spalding, whose businesses were called Gibraltar Capital Group and Marbella Entertainment Group, legally changed his name to Jonathan Scott Morgan in April, police said.

Police are working with prosecutors from the Orange County District Attorney's Office to file new charges, Reinhart said. In the meantime, Spalding will probably serve the rest of his federal prison sentence.

City News Service contributed to this report.