A certified public accountant systematically stole from college trust funds established for children of a family he had known for decades, the Denver grand jury said in indictments returned today.
The theft was from the college trust funds set up for a boy born in 1991 and his sister, who was born in 1993. The thefts occurred over 17 years and were allegedly committed by 64-year-old Peter Davis Johnson, the grand jury said.
In all, Johnson allegedly stole $700,000 from the two funds.
Every year, the children’s father contributed $20,000 to each of the college trust funds. Johnson was the trustee for both.
Johnson had been the business and personal tax accountant for the children’s grandparents for years.
During the time he was allegedly raiding the trusts, he was generating fraudulent reports showing the revenue being generated.
In 2008, not satisfied with Johnson or the money he allegedly was making for the college funds, the family confronted him. Johnson allegedly admitted there was less than $1,000 left in each of the accounts.
The grand jury said that over the years, Johnson had used the money for his personal and business expenses.
The grand jury said that in addition to the college-trust-fund thefts, Johnson stole nearly $2 million from two property-management companies.
The companies are Simpson Housing, which develops, owns and manages rental properties, and Singh Management Co., which also owns rental properties.
The grand-jury indictment alleged that beginning in 2005, one of Johnson’s companies, E. Comm Inc., received money collected from Simpson’s rental properties.
Instead of transferring the money into Simpson Housing bank accounts, said the grand jury, Johnson kept the money, using it for his own companies or his personal benefit.
In August 2007, Simpson Housing noticed that it was $1.6 million short on the money it should have received.
The indictment said that Johnson used a similar scheme with Singh Management, keeping more than $154,00 for his personal and business use.
Johnson is charged with racketeering, 25 counts of theft and four counts of computer crime.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Johnson.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
