A Colorado guy found himself in hot water for allegedly pitching $4.8 million worth of bunk investments to about 80 folks to fund his house-flipping hustle. Here’s the scoop.

Mack Jamie Sprouse, a 57-year-old from the Rocky Mountain state, turned himself in after a probe by the Colorado Division of Securities. They laid out their case to a Jefferson County grand jury.

The Division dropped a press release saying Sprouse was handing out promissory notes like candy, pledging to pay back the dough with fat interest. But hold up—he wasn’t licensed to deal in securities in Colorado. Plus, these investments? Totally unsecured. As if that wasn’t enough, the guy didn’t even have the cash to pay back his investors.

Sprouse is now starring in an 11-count indictment for securities fraud. Not exactly the kind of show you want to headline.

Urban Veneer Holdings LLC

Sprouse runs Urban Veneer Holdings LLC out of Lakewood. The outfit deals in “house flipping,” where you snap up homes, remodel them, and sell them for a sweet profit.

The Division didn’t hold back: “Sprouse made untrue statements of material fact and failed to disclose material facts to investors and engaged in business practices that operated as fraud and deceit,” they said. He basically spun tales about his plans for the investor cash and how he was funding Urban Veneer.

Financial Troubles Behind the Scenes

Public records indicate Urban Veneer Holdings got its start in 2020. But there’s trouble in paradise: six liens were filed against Sprouse or his biz since 2019 in Colorado. Not to mention, four civil suits in Jefferson County surfaced over the last two years. One creditor even claims Sprouse owes over $447,000. Yikes.

Sprouse managed to pay a $50,000 personal recognizance bond, getting out of jail the same day he was nabbed.

Legal Proceedings

The Colorado Attorney General’s Criminal Justice/Financial Fraud Unit is on the case, with a hearing marked on the calendar for June 8. We’ll have to see how that goes.

A Personal Tragedy

On a personal note, Sprouse’s family faced heartbreak when his son, Jordan Sprouse, died in 2014. The 18-year-old was killed by a DUI driver just weeks before graduating from Lakewood High School. The driver, trying to scare his wife, sped through red lights on Kipling Avenue, crashing and taking young Sprouse’s life. Alton Kirkland, the driver, is serving a 35-year stint in the Colorado Department of Corrections.

This tale is another layer, adding tragedy to Sprouse’s unfolding legal turmoil.

Logan Smith

Logan Smith is on the assignment desk at CBS Colorado in Denver. With more than 30 years under his belt covering digital, TV, and print media, he’s seen it all.

For real-time updates, check out CBS Colorado.

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Hey there, ever heard about a little ol’ scam sprouting right from the Rockies? Let me catch you up. A gentleman from Colorado, Tra Jay Scarlett, just came up short trying to pull a fast one on some trusting folks. This guy was all about big talk and even bigger pockets—his, not the investors’. He worked some magic, alright, but with a dark twist, extracting a whopping $3.7 million from folks eager to cash in on the next big ecological wave. More [details on his sentencing](https://www.cbsnews.com/).

Now picture this beauty: “Chatfield PCS, Ltd,” and “GO ECO Manufacturing, Inc.”—two names that sound as fishy as expired lox on a bagel, right? Between February 2016 and January 2021, Scarlett spun tales about these companies, enticing about 34 hopefuls into throwing their hard-earned dollars into what they believed was the future of sustainable packaging. Who wouldn’t want a slice of that eco-friendly pie? Plus, those 15-20% returns dangled like a carrot at every investor meeting.

The Biz Con

• Company Names: Chatfield PCS, Ltd." and "GO ECO Manufacturing, Inc.
• Victims: Approximately 34 investors
• False Promises: Strategic corporate partnerships

Our guy Scarlett was quite the storyteller. He conjured up strategic partnerships with drink manufacturers and commercial clients that existed only in his imagination. Frankly, the whole thing sounds like a sitcom plot, minus the laugh track and plus a twist of financial ruin.

And here’s the kicker. According to the [Colorado Attorney General’s Office](https://coag.gov/), classic warning signs light up at these promises of massive returns. It’s like promising Brooklyn Bridge deeds—an age-old trick in new clothes.

But alas, fantasy met reality, and Scarlett got served a hefty helping of justice: 12 years in community corrections. That’s what you get when you mix deception with misused investments. Plus, he owes more than $3.6 million back to those poor overpromised souls.

Let this be a lesson to us all: if it sounds too good to be true, well, it probably is. Keep a sharp eye and a skeptical ear, especially when your hard-earned cash is at stake.

More from CBS News

Christa Swanson is a Digital Media Producer at CBS Colorado in Denver, keeping you looped in on the latest and, shall we say, “greatest” happenings.

The post Colorado Resident Admits Guilt and Receives Sentence for Multi-Million Dollar Investment Fraud appeared first on Kingston Global Tokyo Japan.

The political drama swirling around State Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis has taken another twist. Colorado elections big shots are digging into a campaign finance complaint against her, sparked by The Colorado Sun’s juicy exposé.

Apparently, the spotlight turned on the Longmont Democrat after one Cory Gaines—a conservative player in this political chessboard—dropped a dime on her, suggesting she might’ve bent the campaign finance rules. The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office agrees there’s enough smoke to see if there’s fire. They reckon the allegations might hold water if proven true.

Now, Jaquez Lewis stands on the hot seat. She’s got until Monday to either dust off the alleged infractions or push back against them. The clock’s ticking.

State Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis gestures as she speaks before Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed four gun control bills. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The Complaint

Gaines is blowing the whistle over what he calls Jaquez Lewis’ misuse of campaign cash. According to him, she splashed campaign dough on personal whimsies, sent forbidden contributions to a rival candidate, and, oh boy, missed jotting down some financial dealings. He claims his intel came straight outta a Colorado Sun story about Jaquez Lewis’ Capitol antics—allegedly putting her aides through the grind like domestic workers.

Allegations and Reports

Come December, The Sun started airing the dirty laundry. They reported how Jaquez Lewis’ former aides cried foul over some work shenanigans. Back in November, that’s when they said she had them doing odd jobs, like backyard pruners and party bartenders. The dollar bills supposedly came from her campaign coffers, which, FYI, ain’t cool by Colorado law. Here’s a deeper dive on campaign finance rules.

But wait, it gets spicier. The grapevine says she might’ve finanaced door-knocking missions for an Adams County commissioner candidate. The wrench in the works? This commissioner was butting heads against a rival’s spouse within the Dem camp. Nonetheless, the buzz at the time was quiet, as those transactions didn’t pop up on the state’s TRACER system.

After the cat was out of the bag, Jaquez Lewis quickly took to fixing her finance sheets, checking the “Sonya For Colorado” account for discrepancies. Yet, she claims it was all just a mix-up with her campaign numbers.

The Fallout

Despite her attempts to correct the record, Jaquez Lewis isn’t out of the woods yet. Colorado rules are tight: no using campaign cash for personal kicks or doling it out to other politicos’ campaigns, be it direct or in-kind.

In a statement released Thursday, the senator denied any hanky-panky. She brushed off the allegations, saying the bartending gig was for a campaign shindig. She’s sticking to her story about mixing up checkbooks—claiming she planned the aide’s payment from her leadership committee. It’s an honest-to-God mistake, according to her narrative.

Jaquez Lewis also said her Morrison Avenue fundraiser’s scoop, snagging two Benjamins from some Jamestown local, was all by the book. Meanwhile, folks at her leadership committee, “Sonya for Dems,” counted 11 donations that day. Her defense? “I have substantially complied with Colorado campaign law.” According to her, there was never any attempt to game the system.

Still, trouble shadows her steps. Legislative aides? Nah, she ain’t got any state-paid helpers now; she’s in the doghouse after multiple complaints. Stripped of committee gigs and facing an ethics probe, she might even get the boot from the legislature altogether. And it’s an awkward situation with her colleagues, especially since she’s been all about worker rights in her legislative pursuits.

Even so, Jaquez Lewis is no newbie to the political scene. She made her way into the legislature back in 2018. By 2020, she scored a spot in the Senate, and recently rolled into another term, winning Senate District 17 by a comfortable margin.

Read the full source article here.

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