{"id":46903,"date":"2021-05-07T21:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-08T03:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/investors-behind-idaho-springs-gondola-say-theyre-victims-of-fraud\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:35:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:35:29","slug":"investors-behind-idaho-springs-gondola-say-theyre-victims-of-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/investors-behind-idaho-springs-gondola-say-theyre-victims-of-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Investors behind Idaho Springs gondola say they\u2019re victims of fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"Mighty Argo Cable Car group promises $32 million project will be completed\n

\"The
The owners of the Argo Mill and Tunnel are planning the Mighty Argo Cable Car gondola from the banks of Clear Creek in Idaho Springs to a mountain top park as the spark to a massive redevelopment of the historic gold mill. Jason Blevins, The Colorado Sun<\/span>Jason Blevins\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The investment group planning a gondola-anchored resort village at Idaho Springs\u2019 long dormant Argo Mill is suing a loan broker and escrow company, arguing they are victims of a comprehensive fraud scheme.<\/p>\n

The 55-investor Mighty Argo Cable Car Group in August 2020 deposited $4.5 million into an escrow account with Virginia-based First Title Inc. That was the equity deposit on a $32.37 million construction loan brokered by Dallas-based Trivecta Capital Group and its owner, Jay Matthiesen.<\/p>\n

The construction loan never followed the deposit. And the Mighty Argo group has been unable to get its $4.5 million back from First Title, which is owned by a woman named Sandra Bacon. The lawsuit alleges Bacon has transferred the $4.5 million into another account and will not return the money.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese defendants\u2019 conduct was fraudulent, malicious, willful and wanton,\u201d reads the complaint against Bacon, First Title, Trivecta and Matthiessen filed last week in U.S. District Court in Denver.<\/p>\n

The Mighty Argo plan calls for a 1.2-mile scenic gondola climbing from the EPA Superfund site at the Argo Mill on the banks of Clear Creek up to the 450-acre Virginia Canyon Mountain Park owned by Idaho Springs. The long-term plan includes a hotel, homes and commercial village surrounding the historic Argo Mill. (The mill is the red structure towering above Idaho Springs where intrepid miners 125 years ago bored nearly 5-miles into the mountains to access what was once considered the continent\u2019s largest cache of gold.)<\/p>\n

The plan is a big deal for Clear Creek County, which has long struggled to lure tourists off Interstate 70 as they whiz toward ski resorts and alpine enclaves deeper in the mountains. The plan called for as many as 400,000 annual visitors, riding gondola cars toting bikes to a mountaintop plaza and a maze of trails. Construction began in October but halted in February, when the construction loan money did not come through and the developer could not get its escrow deposit back.<\/p>\n

Mary Jane Loevlie, the Idaho Springs entrepreneur spearheading the Argo cable car project and village development, said there is no doubt the project is going to go forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember, when we purchased the Superfund site in 2016, no one thought a Superfund would work,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have turned this into a viable project that will be a huge economic engine for Idaho Springs and the region.\u201d<\/div>\n

\"Developer
Developer and businesswoman Mary Jane Loevlie listens during the unveiling of the Mighty Argo Cable Car gondola project, which she and other developers are spearheading at the historic Argo Gold Mill and Tunnel, during an event at Beau Jo's Colorado Style Pizza on Nov. 13, 2019. Andy Colwell\/Special to the Colorado Sun<\/span>Andy Colwell\/Special to the Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Support for the project from local leaders and investors remains \u201coverwhelming,\u201d said Loevlie, whose plan blends heritage tourism and recreation with homes and lodging.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to bring back the economic engine that Argo was at the turn of the century,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are looking at this as a bump in the road. We will get over it and the project will be completed. This will be another great chapter in our book.\u201d<\/p>\n

The $32.8 million construction loan included $800,000 for land acquisition, $8.3 million for the Leitner Poma gondola, $12.1 million for the Argo Landing loading facility on the banks of Clear Creek, $2.3 million for the top plaza and $4.7 million for a three-story parking garage.<\/p>\n

Bacon and her First Title escrow company last year were accused of fraud in a similar lawsuit in Texas. Aspen-based investor Deborah Tomlinson in late 2019 deposited $1.25 million into a First Title escrow account as an equity investment in an $8 million plan to create a company that cleaned industrial equipment in refineries along the Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Tomlinson deposited $1.25 million with Bacon and First Title, the escrow company \u201cunlawfully and without permission\u201d released the money to partners in the company who \u201cabsconded with the money and have diverted and converted the money for their own uses,\u201d according to a complaint filed in Texas District Court in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe escrow agreement with First Title, as well as the supposed escrow account, was nothing more than a sham intended to give defendants\u2019 fraudulent scheme an air of legitimacy,\u201d reads the Tomlinson complaint.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy clients deny all allegations as pled in the lawsuit and will be defending against the lawsuit shortly,\u201d said Derek Deyon, the attorney for Bacon and First Title, in an emailed statement addressing the Mighty Argo complaint. The resolution of the Tomlinson case against Bacon and First Title is pending, per court documents.<\/p>\n

Matthiesen and Trivecta also are facing similar charges in Texas. A California developer in January filed a lawsuit in Dallas County\u2019s 192nd Civil District Court arguing Matthiesen and Trivecta illegally obtained funds deposited into an escrow account as part of a loan deal for an apartment project.<\/p>\n

Anthony Leffert, an attorney representing the Mighty Argo group, said the complaint is more than a misstep in a complex financial deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not your typical escrow case,\u201d Leffert said. \u201cWe are arguing fraud has been committed here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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