Resort business partner sentenced in U. S. Court
Joseph Lavin of Woodinville, WA who was once a business partner with Wildflower Resort Co. was sentenced March 21 to 54 months in prison. The now bankrupt Wildflower Resort Co. planned to build a resort on Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie that included a luxury hotel, conference center, and golf course.
Lavin who operated a series of investment funds pleaded guilty to Wire Fraud and Money Laundering charges on November 2, 2007 in U. S. District Court in Seattle. Along with the prison sentence, Judge Robert S. Lasnik sentenced Lavin to 3 years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $11.6 million in restitution.
Prosecutors dubbed Lavin’s case a “garden-variety ponzi scheme” that payed off early investors with money from later investors.
Judge Lasnik noted, “it was not just money that was lost, but people’s hopes, people’s dreams, people’s lives.”
In separate lawsuit filed August 1, 2007 by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Lavin and his company Global Asset Partners (GAP) is accused of diverting $1.8 million without the knowledge of investors to Wildflower Resort Co. The complaint also alleges Lavin commingled funds and used GAP money for personal expenses.
