A former Boulder private-fund manager waived his right to be indicted by a grand jury and pleaded not guilty in federal court Wednesday to multiple counts of financial fraud and money laundering.
Mark Yost, 47, was released on recognizance by Magistrate Judge Kristen Mix. Neither he nor his lawyer would comment after the brief hearing in Denver.
Yost, a former chairman of Boulder-based Flatirons Bank, was charged with one count of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, one count of money laundering and four counts of making false statements to banks.
He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted, said spokesman Jeff Dorschner of the U.S. attorney’s office for Colorado.
The details of the case — including how much money federal prosecutors believe Yost defrauded from his investors — weren’t discussed in the courtroom Wednesday. A copy of the government’s complaint wasn’t immediately available.
But in a lawsuit Colorado securities officials filed last summer against Yost, they accused him of misleading investors and spending their money on himself. About 50 people, many from Yost’s hometown of Fremont, Neb., lost about $25 million they invested with him over the past 20 years, the lawsuit alleges.
In September, a Denver judge froze the assets of Yost and his company, Yost Co., and barred them from selling securities in the state.
The assets in Yost’s fund, Yost Partnership LP, amounted to less than $20,000 at the end of 2009, according to the Colorado Division of Securities, even though Yost told regulators it had about $28 million.
