Golden – Jefferson County Commissioner Jim Congrove has been sued by a former Arvada bank employee who contends Congrove harassed and threatened her and her two daughters.
The lawsuit filed last week by Lori Stille also names the Board of County Commissioners and private investigator Daril Cinquanta as defendants.
Stille contends the county board and other county officials met in an illegal 2005 session to discuss Congrove’s plan to threaten to withdraw $200 million in county funds from Stille’s bank if she wasn’t fired.
Cinquanta, a friend of Congrove’s, did surveillance and left messages at Stille’s home, the lawsuit states.
Stille’s suit is related to last year’s grand jury inquiry into a complaint filed by county critic Mike Zinna with the Arvada Police Department accusing Congrove of using Zinna’s name on loan documents and forging his name on a bill of sale in 2004.
The grand jury failed to decide on the allegations, which Congrove denied.
Stille processed a number of real estate loans for Congrove, who introduced her to Zinna, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit says Congrove “became obsessed” with what Zinna knew about his financial dealings and began frequently visiting Stille’s bank.
At one point, Stille said, Congrove told her he used to be a police officer, always carried a concealed weapon and “expressed the hope that nothing ever happened” to her two daughters.
Stille said she began receiving anonymous phone calls and Congrove twice harassed one of her daughters at her job.
For the past three months, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation has probed whether the county – at Congrove’s request – inappropriately paid Cinquanta more than $7,500 to spy on county workers and private citizens.
County spokeswoman Kathryn Heider said there has been no decision whether the county will hire outside counsel to defend Congrove.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
