Grand jury indicts developers Ray Marshall, James Brodie

A grand jury has indicted LandCo Equity Partners Chairman Raymond Marshall and President James Brodie on charges they misled investors and stole thousands of dollars from them.

The 33-count indictment alleges violations of the Colorado Organized Crime Act, securities fraud and theft, all felonies, according to the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

“Both Marshall and Brodie were arrested this morning after voluntarily surrendering to authorities,” the District Attorney’s office said in a news release today. See Marshall's indictment here. Click here for Brodie's indictment.

Both have posted bonds of $50,000 and are set to appear in court Dec. 2 before District Judge Barney Iuppa for an advisement hearing.

LandCo is the local real estate development firm that renovated the downtown headquarters building for the U.S. Olympic Committee. Prosecutors said the indictments were unrelated to the USOC building.

The 4^th Judicial District grand jury returned the indictment against Marshall and Brodie Tuesday night after a six-month investigation into the developers' business dealings.

Neither Marshall nor Brodie immediately returned calls seeking comment.

Marshall “is not guilty of any crime,” Pamela Mackey, Marshall’s Denver-based attorney, said in a statement.

In addition to bringing jobs and development opportunities to the community, Marshall “successfully fought to keep the United States Olympic Committee headquarters in Colorado Springs and has championed the redevelopment of the downtown area,” she said.

“It is unfortunate that scarce government resources are being wasted in the prosecution of an innocent man,” she said.

Mackey, defense counsel in the Kobe Bryant rape case, among other high-profile cases, declined to comment when reached on her cell phone.

The statement “will be our only comment. Thank you,” she said before hanging up.

The people listed as victims in the indictments were local residents, “for the most part,” said Deputy District Attorney Samorreyan Burney of the Economic Crimes unit. “They were investors in several real estate developments around town.”

None of the charges, however, involve the  U.S. Olympic Committee headquarters building at 27 S. Tejon Street, Burney said.

“It was a complex matter that involved a number of individuals and a number of properties,” Burney said, explaining the length of the investigation. “We filed our indictment and we’re happy about that.”

The indictment lists 15 victims, most of whom were alleged to have lost more than $15,000 of their money. The victims include: Gary and Kathleen Walters, Timothy O’Brian, Roger Sung, Margaret Lane, Linda Mason, David Weinstein, Tom Pershin, John Xenos, John Shank, Howard Berlin, Phillip Lane, William Fehr, P.B. Patel and a Mr. Dill.

The racketeering charges are alleged to have occurred between January 2000 to March 2007. The securities fraud charges allegedly occurred between Sept. 8, 2006, to Dec. 20, 2006.

According to the indictment against Marshall, he failed to disclose to investors in Colorado Materials Holding Corporation (COMAT) that he had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in June 1996.

The indictment also charges that Marshall falsely claimed to investors that he had a degree from the University of Colorado and that he had attended graduate school at the Anderson School of Business.

Marshall is also accused of misrepresenting to investors that the Bradford Mesa quarry had 400 million tons of rock.

“None of these facts were true,” the indictment states.

Marshall also is accused of failing to disclose that COMAT filed for bankruptcy in April 2003, that a federal tax lien had been filed against him in October 2008 and that he was in litigation with the Internal Revenue Service.

Ron Johnson, who filed an ethics complaint against Mayor Lionel Rivera stemming from the mayor’s business ties to Marshall before Marshall was chosen for the USOC project, said people in his inner circle had questioned why the city would sign a development deal with Marshall.

“I guess the issues with Mr. Marshall were bound to come out,” said Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Central Bancorp Inc. “There were just too many people singing from the same hymnal and apparently the grand jury thought the same thing.”

Johnson said Marshall has been accused of “unscrupulous business activities” by many people.

“Now those accusations include the district attorney,” he said.

After Johnson filed the ethics compliant, the city’s Independent Ethics Commission conducted a weeks-long inquiry and cleared Rivera of any wrongdoing.

Despite the commission’s findings, Johnson said he believes his complaint was valid.

“I stand behind my earlier accusations that the mayor, regardless of the findings of the ethics commission, acted improperly in his dealings,” he said.

Rivera did not return a call for comment.