Man faces $7.2M payback

Outlet mall organizer denies claims

TUCSON, Ariz. — A Tucson businessman who signed promissory notes to help finance a proposed outlet mall in Dacono may have to pay restitution of $7.2 million.

The attorney for Charles R. Stedman, however, says his client did not misrepresent himself or the project, commit fraud or sell securities to 110 investors.

“No lender considered this to be a security. They considered this to be a loan,” Tucson attorney Bruce Heurlin said.

Heurlin spoke on behalf of his client at a June 25 hearing before an administrative law judge of the Arizona Corporation Commission.

A staff attorney for the commission’s…