Two men accused of defrauding more than 700 businesses in Colorado and other states have agreed to pay a total of $2 million in fines and restitution to the state of Colorado.
The men, Tyrone E. Tymkovich, 33, of Aurora and Sam Levine, 43, of Castle Rock, each agreed to pay $1 million each under a settlement announced today by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers.
In December, Suthers filed a lawsuit against Tymkovich and Levine accusing them of defrauding hundreds of businesses between July 2006 and September 2009.
According to the lawsuit, Tymkovich and Levine, and employees of their two Englwood-based companies – Corporate Acquisitions Group and Global Acquisitions Group – would approach small businesses and tell them that either buyers wanted to buy their companies or that their businesses could be sold.
The pair allegedly convinced the business owners to let them conduct an appraisal of their businesses for $5,000.
Only about $1,000 of the fee was actually used to complete the appraisals, the lawsuit alleged.
Under the settlement, the state of Colorado is to use the first $1.5 million for consumer restitution. The remaining $500,000 is to be paid to the Colorado Department of Law to be held, along with interest, to be used by by the consumer protection section of the Colorado Attorney’s General’s Office.
Under the settlement, neither Tymkovich nor Levine will be allowed to act as business brokers for any new clients or solicit upfront appraisal fees from any existing clients.
The attorney general’s office said the settlement also requires Tymkovich and Levine to notify the attorney general of any commissions paid by existing clients and demonstrate that the commissions are the result of actual brokered sales.
Earlier this month, Tymkovich was slapped with a $160,000 contempt judgment for continuing to solicit business as a broker.
Suthers said Tymkovich continued to solicit business using the alias “Adam Smith” for a New Jersey company, HDI Consultants.Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
