【西雅图时报】美国之路称其未滥用移民投资人资金,美国移民超市微信公众号文章

作者: Sanjay Bhatt

西雅图时报商业记者

总部位于埃弗雷特的美国之路（Path America）周一称其对联邦调查感到惊讶，期待澄清其任何不当行为。

一周之前，在证监会提交民事诉讼声称该公司及其附属公司挪用了自移民投资人处筹集的1.25亿或者更多资金中的1760万美元之后不久，该私人持有公司及其首席执行官罗桑·达奇（Lobsang Dargey）的资产被冻结。

美国之路在一份声明中说：“我们已经让我们律师和SEC合作积极捍卫公司，我们有信心最终SEC的控诉会被解除。”

SEC声称达奇（Dargey）挪用的资金来自其开发的两处西雅图EB-5项目——西雅图市区的Potala Tower项目和埃弗雷特市区带农贸市场的酒店公寓项目。

通过EB-5项目，移民投资人可通过在一个商业项目投资50万美元创造至少10个就业为其自己及其家人获得永久居住签证资格。

SEC声称达奇（Dargey），41岁，贝尔维尤人，将这两个项目资金的250万美元用于购买贝尔维尤的房屋、其他房地产投资以及在西部的14个赌场赌博。

美国之路（Path America）在其声明中说其未收到正在被调查的事先通知。

声明说：“若我们公司被提前联系，我们就能够向SEC提供有关我们经营的更多信息，这些信息我们相信能够证明我们在募集投资时遵循了法律顾问的建议，已向我们投资人作出合适披露，以及我们的财务报表是健全的。”

美国之路（Path America）说其已聘用Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe律所的证券律师Dan Dunne 和George Greer。

资产冻结令西雅图市区的Potala Tower酒店住宅大厦项目的建造临时暂停，并可能危及西雅图雷尼尔山谷的另一处计划项目。

根据法院立案，双方律师同意美国之路（Path America）在9月7号之前向SEC提供投资人资金如何使用的完整记账。临时限制令，包括资产冻结将持续至9月14号。

周一，SEC和美国之路（Path America）的律师同意解除资金用于支付供应商和员工。最大部分是Potala Tower 项目的总承包商PCL建造公司，根据立案就其完成的工作将被支付超过280万美元。

原文来源：http://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/path-america-says-it-did-nothing-wrong-with-immigrant-investor-money/

Path America says it did nothing wrong with immigrant investor money

By Sanjay Bhatt

Originally published August 31, 2015 at 10:05 am | Updated August 31, 2015 at 5:24 pm

Everett-based Path America said Monday it was surprised by a federal investigation into its finances and expects to be cleared of any wrongdoing.

The assets of the privately held company and its chief executive, Lobsang Dargey, were frozen a week ago, soon after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil suit alleging that they and subsidiaries had misappropriated $17.6 million from the $125 million or more they raised from would-be immigrant investors.

“We have instructed our counsel to cooperate with the SEC while aggressively defending the company, and are confident that at the end of the day the SEC’s allegations will be disproved,” Path America said in a statement.

The SEC’s complaint alleges Dargey misappropriated funds that were raised through the federal EB-5 visa programfor two Seattle area projects he was developing — Potala Tower in downtown Seattle and a hotel-and-apartment project with a farmers market in downtown Everett.

Through EB-5, immigrant investors can become eligible for a permanent residency visa for themselves and their families by investing $500,000 in a commercial project that creates at least 10 jobs.

The SEC alleged Dargey, 41, of Bellevue, tapped funds intended for the two projects to spend on a $2.5 million home there, other real-estate investments and gambling at 14 casinos across the West.

Path America said in a statement that it had no advance notice it was being investigated.

“Had the company been contacted, we would have provided the SEC with additional information concerning our operations, which … we believe would have demonstrated that we relied upon legal counsel advice when soliciting investments, that appropriate disclosures were made to our investors and that our financial statements are sound,” said the statement.

Path America said it has retained securities attorneys Dan Dunne and George Greer of the law firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.

The asset freeze has temporarily halted construction of Potala Tower, Path America’s hotel-and-residential tower project in downtown Seattle, and could jeopardize another planned project in Seattle’s Rainier Valley.

Attorneys for both sides agreed that Path America will provide the SEC by Sept. 7 with a full accounting of how investors’ money was used, according to a court filing. A temporary restraining order, including the asset freeze, is slated to continue until Sept.14.

Also Monday, attorneys for the SEC and Path America agreed to unlock funds to pay specified vendors and employees. The largest is PCL Construction, the general contractor on Potala Tower, which will be paid more than $2.8 million for work completed, according to the filing.