A former Boulder banker convicted in 2010, sentenced to prison and put on guard for $ 11.9 million in restitution to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for bank fraud in the collapse of BestBank in 1998, he has been tried along with his son and two companies, being guilty in a case of disappearance of a hemp crop.
In a case settled in Denver District Court in January 2020 and asserted by the Colorado Court of Appeals on September 9, Thomas Alan Boyd, along with others, was found responsible for securities fraud, false statements, a scheme of fraud, misrepresentation, non-disclosure, and negligent concealment and misrepresentation.
The case was filed by Hemp Recovery Co. LLC, which was the assignee of claims belonging to Adam A. Desmond and DD Needle Rock Farms LLC, a hemp producer. Needle Rock Farms is a Crawford company.
As alleged in the lawsuit filed on February 6, 2019, Desmond and Needle Rock Farms, based on representations of Thomas Alan Boyd and his son Christopher Boyd, agreed to transfer 4,415 pounds of flower to Christopher Christopher. hemp, valued at $ 75 a pound. Boyd’s company, Foothills Ventures LLC of Berthoud, for the processing and extraction of its CBD oil. Needle Rock and Foothills had agreed to a 50/50 split in revenue from the sale of hemp-derived products, according to demand.
Foothills Ventures was formed in June 2017, according to records by the Secretary of State; hemp was transferred in October and November 2017.
Hemp was transferred to another company, Sling Logistics LLC, which was formed in December 2016 by Thomas Alan Boyd and Matthew Taylor. Sling was said to be engaged in the wholesale trade and transportation of marijuana and hemp. Needle Rock paid Sling $ 230,000 in advance for services.
When nothing happened, Needle Rock tried to retrieve the hemp, but could not be found, according to the lawsuit. Needle Rock was also unable to recover the $ 230,000.
The district court determined that Thomas Alan Boyd was responsible for securities fraud, misrepresentation and fraudulent scheme. It was also found that Thomas Alan Boyd, Christopher Boyd and Foothills Ventures were responsible for the charges of misrepresentation, non-disclosure and concealment and negligent misrepresentation.
The fourth party, Sling Logistics, failed in the case by failing to appear in court. Taylor was in jail at the time. He was sentenced in March 2020 to nearly seven years in prison and fined $ 7.2 million in restitution for defrauding the U.S. government of a plan to apply for federal tax credits for production and l ‘use of renewable fuels. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Taylor and his conspirators set up a fake company, Shintan Inc., which they said produced biodiesel from plant and animal matter. Taylor personally received $ 4.5 million in tax credits. No biodiesel was produced.
The district court said the parties, including the two Boyds, Foothills and Sling, owed the hemp recovery $ 606,714 plus interest. Specifically, the court held that Thomas Alan Boyd and Sling Logistics are jointly and severally liable for $ 269,407 of the amount, and that Thomas Alan Boyd, Christopher Boyd, Foothills Ventures and Sling Logistics are liable for $ 337,306.
The appeal focused on whether Thomas Alan Boyd was, as determined by the district court, a Foothills Ventures agent, making Christopher Boyd and Foothills Ventures also liable. The appellate court upheld the district court’s findings.
Steve Feder, of Denver’s law firm Feder, said plaintiffs are primarily concerned that other people get caught up in similar situations. They have not yet charged the trial, Feder said.
“Alan Boyd was found responsible for factoring, which is a guarantee under Colorado law. He has been found responsible for securities fraud and, as it was a fraud, not all sentences could be downloaded in case of bankruptcy. Our customers ’concerns are how to charge and when to charge,” he said.
Calls to the defendants’ attorneys – Karla Carrigan of Carrigan and Cotter Law of Littleton – were not returned prior to publication.
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