Debt-ridden ex-broker files for bankruptcy

A former securities broker who has been in trouble with state regulators and who faces a string of lawsuits has filed for bankruptcy, declaring $1.28 million in liabilities and $20,000 in assets.

Randall L. Pope, of Fort Collins, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July. Pope’s filing follows issuance of a cease-and-desist order to his company, Front Range Construction Capital Inc., from the Colorado Division of Securities in January. The cease-and-desist order, to which Pope agreed in June, ordered his real estate firm to stop selling unregistered securities in Colorado.

Pope, a former securities broker for Lakewood-based CapWest Securities, blamed his July 2 bankruptcy filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado on a decision made by Larimer County commissioners three years ago to revoke his permit to operate a community hall. Pope owns The Preserve at Bingham Hill, a wedding venue on his property, 3924 Bingham Hill Road in north Fort Collins.

“The bankruptcy is a direct result of the Larimer County Board of County Commissioners’ decision in December of 2010 to revoke, without warning, the special review they had approved for our property seven months earlier in May of 2010,” Pope said in an email statement. “This decision not only terminated our ability to earn a living and defend ourselves but it also left us in financial ruin.”

Larimer County has a different take on the situation.

“We would not agree that his bankruptcy is necessarily due to that particular action,´ said Jeannine Haag, deputy county attorney.

Pope is well known among county officials, having made multiple appearances at county commission meetings as he repeatedly sought approval for a basketball camp, “Camp Whatchmakeit,” and community hall.

Neighbors had expressed concerns about Pope’s proposed business in the rural-residential part of town, but county commissioners approved the business anyway in October 2009.

In August 2010, Pope played host to a wedding whose number of guests exceeded his permit, according to county records. Later that year he had an event in a gym he built that violated fire codes because he had no temporary certificate of occupancy, records show.

Commissioners revoked his permit for the community hall but let him continue to run his basketball camp.

Pope applied again for the community-hall permit in 2011, which ultimately was denied later that year. He reapplied in June 2012, and commissioners in October 2012 approved his request for the community hall.

Meanwhile, Pope is facing four lawsuits filed in Wyoming District Court in 2010. The lawsuits alleged that Pope defrauded family trusts and individuals of more than $3.5 million. The lawsuits contend Pope took part in Ponzi schemes involving sales of fraudulent unsecured loans in Texas-based Striker Petroleum and Provident Royalties.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged those companies in 2009 with bilking thousands of investors out of more than a half-billion dollars.

“It is a fact of our legal system that anyone can allege anything they want in a lawsuit,” Pope said at the time. “Unfortunately, a person immediately becomes a defendant whether or not the allegations are true or accurate.”

Pope’s attorney, J. Mark Stewart, declined to comment on his client’s lawsuits.

In 2011, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, an independent securities regulator, awarded Rosalin Rogers $182,000 in a separate case against Pope. Rogers is listed as a creditor in Pope’s bankruptcy for $192,600.

The same year, Larimer County District Court Magistrate Matthew Zehe authorized the sale of Pope’s home by Home State Bank because of his inability to make payments. Pope owes the bank nearly $560,000, according to the bankruptcy filing. A representative of Home State Bank, the creditor owed the most in the bankruptcy, did not return a phone message seeking comment.

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, which is owed nearly $390,000 by Pope, is another large creditor, one of more than an estimated 100 creditors in the case.

Pope’s disenchanted creditors are spread from California to Pennsylvania, and some believe they may never see their money. At $9,339, a 2005 Chevy Silverado pickup truck is listed as Pope’s most expensive asset, according to the bankruptcy filing.

Fort Collins attorney Mark Korb, also listed as a creditor in the bankruptcy, said he wrote off the $4,125 debt that Pope owed him for legal services years ago.

Pope owes Philip Gottula, owner of FLEXX Productions in Fort Collins, more than $16,500. Gottula said he sold Pope wedding equipment at cost to help Pope launch his business three years ago but “got stiffed on the backside of the deal by him not paying me.

“It’s unfortunate,” Gottula said, “He always continues to tell me, ‘Oh, I’m gonna get you paid.’ “