Boulder developer John Ball barred from Colorado securities market

DENVER — Developer John C. Ball of Boulder has been permanently barred from the Colorado securities market for fraudulently soliciting and selling investments for a land development project, Securities Commissioner Gerald Rome announced Monday.

Ball, through his company The Resort at Pikes Peak LLC, violated three areas of the Colorado Securities Act, according to District Court Judge Michael Vellejos, who heard the case brought against Ball by the Attorney General’s office on behalf of Rome.

The Resort at Pikes Peak LLC was formed in 2007 to buy and develop land for a year-round ski area on the west side of Pikes Peak Mountain in Teller County. The 320-acre property is near Colorado Springs and surrounded on all four sides by the 1.1-million acre Pike National Forest.

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In 2010 Ball was issued a cease and desist order by the commissioner for failing to disclose material facts about an investment to potential buyers.

Ball claimed to be in the process of purchasing land on Pikes Peak for a ski resort, and told investors he had a contract for the land. But, Vellejos found that Ball failed to disclose that the land was subject to a lien and right of first refusal, which violates the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act.

Following the cease and desist order, Ball was uncooperative with the division, failing to provide requested documents or adhere to deadlines set by the court.

The court later discovered that after the cease and desist order had been issued, Ball emailed several hundred people seeking investors to purchase interests in the Pikes Peak enterprise, and again failed to disclose necessary information, including that the cease and desist order had been issued.

The commissioner’s case against Ball further alleged that throughout the time Ball was soliciting and selling securities through the Resort at Pikes Peak, neither the promissory notes nor the direct investments in his company were lawfully registered, as required by the state.

“Mr. Ball’s consistent lack of compliance with the Securities Act, manifesting itself most egregiously in the form of misrepresenting to potential investors his lack of ownership of the Pikes Peak property, and total disregard of the cease and desist order, prompted this action,” Rome said in a statement. “Permanent exclusion from the securities industry is the only acceptable outcome.”

Attempts to reach Ball on Monday to request comment were not successful.