Image: Ronald Holden
Almost exactly a year ago, developer Lobsand Dargey was posing for photos with Seattle mayor Ed Murray and actor Tom Skerritt at the groundbreaking for Potola Tower, a $190 million apartment/hotel tower that would rise 41 stories over Belltown. Today there are serious questions as to whether or not that and other large-scale properties will ever be completed following allegations that the former Tibetan Monk defrauded investors and misused funds. Specifically, Dargey is accused of diverting $14 million in foreign investor money from his Seattle and Everett projects to pay for his Kirkland and Shoreline projects. He is also alleged to have pocketed $13 million, some of which was used to buy his home and trips to the casino. Because of the the civil action filed by SEC, a judge has frozen all assets on Potola Tower as well as the Potola Place project in Everett. The ripple effects and fallout of all this could affect not only those projects but multiple other ones from Everett to Seattle to Kirkland.
· Seattle monk-turned-developer accused of bilking foreign investors [PSBJ]
· Ex-monk's assets frozen after fraud allegations, could endanger real estate deals across the region [PSBJ]
· Controversial Kirkland apartment project likely delayed after fraud allegations [PSBJ]
· Tom Skerritt & Tibetan Monks Break Ground on Potala Tower [CS]
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