Steven Heald was advised in Delta County District Court last week of the 43 felony counts and 11 misdemeanor counts of theft and forgery against him alleging he embezzled funds from the West Central Housing Development Organization while he was its executive director from 1999 to 2003.
He is to return to court Wednesday to set a date for his preliminary hearing, said a spokesman for the court.
Heald, who was sent to prison in 1994 after being convicted of bilking investors out of more that $1.5 million by selling them forged deeds of trust, was arrested March 10 by Delta police officers and agents of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation after a two-year investigation.
Investigators say Heald misappropriated more than $200,000 while heading the nonprofit organization, which served a six- county area by helping develop low-income housing projects and providing down-payment loans and low-interest residential rehabilitation loans to individuals. The organization filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2004 because of the alleged embezzlement.
According to an affidavit filed with the court by investigators, Heald revealed his earlier conviction to the board of the nonprofit organization, telling them that it was because of a past gambling problem and that he was making restitution to his victims. He persuaded them to give him a second chance, the document says.
“Because of Heald’s criminal background, the WCHDO board of directors instituted what they believed was an adequate ‘safeguard;’ specifically that Heald was not authorized to sign on WCHDO bank accounts,” the affidavit says.
Among the victims listed in the affidavit are Donald B. May, doing business as Paonia Land & Cattle; West Central Housing Development Organization; the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Division of Housing; former Paonia Mayor Ron Rowell; Pat Coyle, program manager at the state Division of Housing; the Fannie Mae Foundation; former Delta County Commissioner Jim Ventrello; and Nellie M. Bell of the Delta Housing Authority.
Former Delta Mayor and Councilwoman Bonnie Thompson, who left the council this month because of term limits, is Heald’s wife.
Acting Delta Police Chief Doug Porter said Thompson wasn’t implicated in the investigation into Heald’s activities.
Staff writer Jim Kirksey can be reached at 303-820-1448 or jkirksey@denverpost.com.
