Globe and Mail of Canada gives an update on the legal case against Derek Elliott, the Canadian behind Sun Village Resort in Puerto Plata, that overextended himself and flopped with the Juan Dolio hotel that would have been tied in to Maxim magazine emporium.
From DR1 Daily News 19 September 2014:
Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail has published an update on the case against Canadian Derek Elliott who along with a US business partner James Catledge of Rancho Santa Fe, California, is accused of having masterminded a fraud that raised US$91.3 million from hundreds of investors to renovate and launch a second luxury hotel in Juan Dolio that never opened. Elliot originally opened the luxury Sun Village Hotel in Cofresi, Puerto Plata that was co-branded with Maxim adult magazine.
Globe and Mail writes that Elliot pled guilty to a fraud charge in a US federal court in San Francisco. The charge carries a possible maximum jail sentence of 20 years, as well as fines. But the sentencing hearing is not scheduled until next year, when The Globe and Mail says that Elliott could see leniency applied for co-operating with prosecutors. Elliott?s lawyer Brett Tolman told The Globe and Mail that Elliott is cooperating with the US Department of Justice and has agreed both to testify against Catledge and to try to return whatever funds can be recovered to investors.
Tolman also explained that Elliott is co-operating with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in its civil case alleging that the resorts were used in an international US$163-million Ponzi scheme. As reported, Elliott settled his side of the SEC allegations in 2012, without admitting or denying wrongdoing, but still could face up to US$250,000 in fines.
Ontario man pleads guilty to stock fraud in U.S. - The Globe and Mail
From DR1 Daily News 19 September 2014:
Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail has published an update on the case against Canadian Derek Elliott who along with a US business partner James Catledge of Rancho Santa Fe, California, is accused of having masterminded a fraud that raised US$91.3 million from hundreds of investors to renovate and launch a second luxury hotel in Juan Dolio that never opened. Elliot originally opened the luxury Sun Village Hotel in Cofresi, Puerto Plata that was co-branded with Maxim adult magazine.
Globe and Mail writes that Elliot pled guilty to a fraud charge in a US federal court in San Francisco. The charge carries a possible maximum jail sentence of 20 years, as well as fines. But the sentencing hearing is not scheduled until next year, when The Globe and Mail says that Elliott could see leniency applied for co-operating with prosecutors. Elliott?s lawyer Brett Tolman told The Globe and Mail that Elliott is cooperating with the US Department of Justice and has agreed both to testify against Catledge and to try to return whatever funds can be recovered to investors.
Tolman also explained that Elliott is co-operating with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in its civil case alleging that the resorts were used in an international US$163-million Ponzi scheme. As reported, Elliott settled his side of the SEC allegations in 2012, without admitting or denying wrongdoing, but still could face up to US$250,000 in fines.
Ontario man pleads guilty to stock fraud in U.S. - The Globe and Mail