Globe and Mail reports on Derek Elliot + Maxim case

Dolores1

DR1
May 3, 2000
8,215
37
48
www.
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

See more at DR1 - January to December 2014 News Archive
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
16,350
1,358
113
elizabetheames.blogspot.com
I drove by the ghost town of Juan Dolio yesterday.. not the Village which is sweet as always, but the strip which looks like about a hundred people or so live there. Parking lots empty, hurricane shutters closed. All very spooky looking like a dystopian novel. The prices do not seem to have much rhyme or reason to them Juan Dolio Real Estate, Juan Dolio Condos/Coops for Sale by Point2 Homes as I cannot see how anyone can GET to the beach which seems completely built up and enclosed with private residences.

I fear that the entire place is going to just fall down into disrepair unless all they turn the place into timeshares or do a big ad campaign together or something! It is a shame since Juan Dolio could be a perfect location but they really just all overbuilt in a frenzy and how is anyone to tell about the management or construction of any given project?

Much of the construction is the oh so lovely architecture that I call "early Stalinesque".. and pretty much cheek by jowl.
 

mountainannie

Platinum
Dec 11, 2003
16,350
1,358
113
elizabetheames.blogspot.com
did u take any photos of lovely overbuilt russian beach architecture?

this will perhaps give you an idea Municipio Juan Dolio y Guayacanes - San Pedro de Macor?s | MacorisSerie23.com.. not all are Stalinesque.. some are actually built "hurricane style" like the Sheraton and Jaragua here in SD, offering only their smallest profile to the sea with well placed balconeys.

There is an ongoing issue with public access to the beaches which appears to be via only a few places which have gates that are locked at 6 at night. This does not seem to be reflected in the prices of the condos which are located away from the beach.

The other issue is that there was a pretty large government investment in the beach, bringing in sand, I think, and dredging, and I wonder how long the sand will last?