Former clients move to halt bankruptcy protections for Windsor developer arrested on fraud charge

WINDSOR — Two Northern Colorado couples are asking a bankruptcy judge to strip protections from a developer who is facing multiple charges in connection with a failed condominium project in Windsor.

In two separate complaints filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado, couples Melissa and Michael Kitowski and Angela Mead and Myles Mead petitioned the court to halt Bret Lamperes’ efforts to discharge some of his debt after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in February.

The federal bankruptcy code specifically exempts debts that were obtained by fraud or misrepresentation from being discharged.

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The Meads and Kitowskis filed civil lawsuits against Lamperes this year, claiming that he misled them into investing in a condominium project just south of Windsor Lake that never materialized and later taking a combined $721,000 from business accounts for personal use for him and his business partner.

The Colorado Real Estate Commission revoked Lamperes’ license and fined him $50,000 in 2018. He was found to have violated rules against false advertising, making unethical money transfers and demonstrating “unworthiness or incompetency to act as a real estate broker” in a way that endangered public interests, according to state records.

Weld County authorities charged Lamperes in early March with five combined counts of theft, money laundering and tax evasion related to the condo project. If convicted on all counts, he faces between 11 and 33 years in prison and a maximum fine of $450,000.

Lamperes is scheduled to appear for a status hearing at the Weld County Courthouse at 11 a.m., April 20.