Suthers
DENVER (Legal Newsline) - Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced on Monday that he has reached a $2 million settlement with two Englewood-based business brokers who allegedly defrauded more than 700 businesses over a three-year period.
From July 2006-Sept. 2009, Tyrone E. Tymkovich and Sam Levine allegedly used their companies - Corporate Acquisitions Group and Global Acquisitions Group - to misrepresent to businesses that they either had buyers interested in their businesses or that the businesses could be sold.
Once someone was interested, the defendants would charge a $5,000 appraisal fee, with only approximately 20 percent of that money used for the actual appraisal, Suthers claimed.
Under terms of the settlement, Tymkovich and Levine, who will each pay $1 million to the state in fines and restitution, are both barred from engaging as business brokers for any new clients and can no longer solicit appraisal fees upfront for any clients they already have. The defendants must also notify Suthers' office of any commissions paid by current clients and show how they are the result of actual brokered sales.
Each defendant will pay $1,000 that will go towards restitution and costs associated with the legal action.
A lawsuit against the two men was filed in December. Suthers received a contempt order against Tymkovich earlier this month after learning that he allegedly continued soliciting business under the alias "Adam Smith" for the N.J.-based HDI Consultants. This was a violation of a court order from February and Tymkovich was required to pay an additional $160,000.