A Littleton man has been indicted by a Colorado grand jury for allegedly committing around $1 million in securities fraud that affected more than 46 investors, officials said Monday.
Daniel Sullivan, owner and operator of businesses including DIG Energy, LLC; COPS, Inc.; and COPS, LLC, is suspected of providing misinformation, omitting “important information” and not disclosing the actual use of funds when he solicited about $1 million, according to a Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies news release.
Sullivan began allegedly raising funds in November 2009, the indictment said, to invest in shares of green energy, real estate or waste-to-fuel start-up companies that he said were “ready to make initial public offerings,” the release said.
“Sullivan told investors that he could promise high rates of return with little to no risk involved,” the release said. “In reality, the shares allegedly carried a great degree of risk.”
Investors, who were encouraged to hand over retirement savings , were also not told Sullivan had “many financial troubles” resulting from a failed business, a 2005 bankruptcy and a 2013 civil suit against him filed by the Colorado Department of Revenue, the indictment alleged.
The indictment issued Thursday also alleged that Sullivan invested less than $300,000 in the start-ups with the rest of the $1 million used for “business and personal expenses” including repaying earlier investors.
The indictment for security fraud is a class 3 felony, the release said.
Elizabeth Hernandez: 303-954-1223, ehernandez@denverpost.com or
