Steve Bachar arrested on felony charges of securities fraud, theft

This story first ran on BusinessDen.com, a BizWest news partner.

DENVER — Attorney and businessman Steve Bachar was arrested and booked into the Denver City Jail Tuesday evening on felony charges of securities fraud and theft related to a shuttered startup.

The Denver District Attorney’s office filed the charges against Bachar after a referral from the state Department of Regulatory Agencies Division of Securities and issued a warrant for his arrest last week.

If convicted, the charges carry a possible prison sentence between four and 12 years and fines from $3,000 to $750,000.

According to the affidavit filed with the warrant, a former friend of Bachar’s invested in Bachar’s company and in Revolar, a failed startup Bachar attempted to turn around. That investor never got back his money, according to an investigation by the Denver District Attorney’s Economic Crime’s Unit. Bachar largely spent the money on personal expenses, according to the affidavit.

Bachar also has unrelated judgments against him for more than $4 million from PPE vendors that he stiffed during the peak of the pandemic. Court documents claim he spent some of those funds on personal expenses, too.

A detective from the Denver District Attorney’s office interviewed a North Carolina resident who met Bachar in 1992 while working together on a presidential campaign. Bachar subsequently worked as a staffer in the Clinton administration. The two remained friends through the years, according to the affidavit.

Bachar contacted the individual in October 2017, according to the complaint, offering “him the opportunity to become involved in helping women-owned businesses through Empowerment Capital.”

Revolar manufactured a small panic button for women, similar to a Life Alert. Despite early success, the company shut down in 2017 and was forced into bankruptcy in 2018, shortly after Empowerment’s entrance.

Describing the investment “as close to a sure thing that you can find,” Bachar offered the individual, whose name was redacted from the affidavit, 10 percent interest in exchange for $75,000, according to court documents. Bachar later solicited him to invest a further $50,000 in Revolar and asked for money to cover his daughters’ tuition and child support, according to the affidavit.

During the first eight months of 2018, the individual made eight more wire transfers adding up to $142,000, according to court documents.

Bachar failed to provide documents of the individual’s investments and he stopped returning his calls in June 2020 while refusing to repay the personal loans, according to court documents.

Bachar spent $61,396 on personal expenses, meals and travel from Oct. 13, 2017 to Jan 16, 2018, according to the affidavit, which also claims Bachar paid $31,789 to his ex-wife, $14,928 to pay off debts, $11,681 on business expenses for Revolar and $10,375 on other personal expenses.

“It is believed Mr. Bachar made untrue statements of material facts in connection with the offer and sale of securities,” the affidavit concludes. “Bachar omitted material facts in connection with the offer and sale of securities.”

BusinessDen was unable to reach Bachar for comment.

In July 2018, Bachar solicited $850,000 in investments for Revolar from other 10 individuals, including philanthropist Nicole Bagley, who contributed $575,000 according to documents reviewed by BusinessDen. Bagley sued Revolar in June in efforts to prevent Bachar from retaining ownership of the company intellectual property. The parties settled out of court in July.

According to court documents, Bachar’s ex-wife Susan filed a motion for contempt against him in August 2020 for failing to maintain child support obligations.

To date, Bachar also owes $600,000 to DaVita and $3.7 million to the Future Health Company in California for PPE deals made in 2020. In court documents filed in August, Bachar claimed he had no assets, income, or ability to pay the judgments.

The Future Health Company’s court filings suggest Bachar spent a portion of the money on lavish vacations and to support his wife’s Cherry Creek furniture store Coda Studio.

The Denver DA’s office and DORA declined BusinessDen’s request for comment.

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