The Thomas White Affair

Palm Springs arrests cast doubt on the prosecution of a San Francisco man in a sex tourism case.

A A A Comments (1) By Matt Smith Wednesday, Mar 18 2009

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Somehow, Niroula made bail. And he, Garcia, and other members of an alleged con artist crew made their way to Palm Springs where Garcia had a friend: Cliff Lambert, according to acquaintances of Garcia's who spoke with SF Weekly.

By December 4, Lambert had apparently vanished. Within a couple of weeks, a handsome Castro bartender who hung out with Niroula began removing expensive artworks and other valuables from Lambert's home. A neighbor noticed and called the police. Once in custody, the bartender, Miguel Adolfo DeLeon Bustamante, turned on his friends. He fingered Replogle, Garcia, Niroula, and Manning as having concocted a scheme to take Lambert's house, loot his bank accounts, and steal his possessions, police said.

Tyson Wrensch

Daniel Garcia, a plaintiff in a sex abuse lawsuit against Thomas White, has been arrested in connection with an alleged scheme to steal assets from a disappeared Palm Springs man.

Kaushal Niroula allegedly conspired with his boyfriend, attorney David Replogle, to steal Lambert's identity.

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Police fear Lambert may be dead. And Thomas Frank White is still in a Puerto Vallarta jail cell.

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