Missing Alameda man owes $113 million in federal judgment

Police are requesting the public's help in finding 73-year-old John Nelson Beck who has been missing since Tuesday. Police are requesting the public's help in finding 73-year-old John Nelson Beck who has been missing since Tuesday. Photo: Alameda Police Department Photo: Alameda Police Department Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Missing Alameda man owes $113 million in federal judgment 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A 73-year-old man who mysteriously vanished Tuesday is facing a $113 million judgment from the Federal Trade Commission over a get-rich-quick infomercial scam.

John Nelson Beck of Alameda was the man behind John Beck Amazing Profits LLC, which put out infomercials marketing “John Beck’s Free & Clear Real Estate System.” According to court filings, the infomercials falsely told consumers that they could easily make massive amounts of money by buying homes at government tax sale auctions and immediately flipping or renting them.

The “system,” which cost $39.95 plus shipping and handling, consisted of written manuals, DVDs and CDs. Beck also offered personal coaching services that ranged from $195 to $14,995.

The FTC sued Beck and several other defendants in 2009, saying they had scammed hundreds of thousands of customers. Collectively, consumers spent $92 million purchasing the John Beck System and an additional $175 million on personal coaching services for the system, the FTC said in its 2009 complaint.

In 2012, the FTC won a judgment for $479 million against all the defendants in a U.S. Central California District Court in Los Angeles. The court ordered Beck to personally pay $113 million.

Beck filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy that year. He appealed the case in 2013. The most recent hearing for the appeal took place Tuesday in Pasadena — the same day Beck disappeared.

In August, the District Court appointed a liquidating receiver to seize Beck’s assets, including two houses in Alameda, on Regent Street and Oleander Avenue.

Beck’s daughter, Laura Beck, said Friday that she did not believe the case prompted her father’s disappearance. She said that her parents still reside in the Regent Street house.

“That’s definitely been something that’s been troubling him for the last four years,” she said. But, she added, “it looked like things were getting better lately.”

Laura Beck described her father as a quiet family man who plays in a paddle sport league and dotes on his four grandchildren.

She said that shortly after he disappeared the family checked flight logs and found no evidence that he had absconded.

“His passport is here, too,” she said. “He’s not a devious person. I don’t think he would have been able to orchestrate something like that — my mom makes all his dentist appointments.”

Beck’s wife, Joyce Beck, said that “things were looking up” in the case at the time Beck disappeared.

“Even if it had ended — worst-case scenario — (we’d) accepted that and knew we had family to support us emotionally and financially,” she said.

Beck was a former real estate lawyer who may have owned many properties, his daughter said, though she believes none of them has buildings.

His family hired a private investigator Friday. They also organized a 60-person search party to scour parts of Alameda County, San Francisco and the Peninsula over the weekend.

Chronicle staff writer Kimberly Veklerov contributed to this report.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan