Something very interesting from this morning's Salt Lake Tribune: Kristen Moulton reports that Los Angeles-based gondolist and Ogden real estate investor Gadi Leshem has been arrested, charged and has entered not guilty pleas to five felony counts of workers' comp insurance fraud and conspiracy, which charges are based upon an alleged 4-1/2 year pattern of company payroll under-reporting:
Ogden booster faces felony chargesLike all defendants charged with criminal violations, Mr. Leshem is entitled to the benefit of the presumption of innocence, while this matter works its way through the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Nevertheless, we imagine this development will not be interpreted as "good news" by the local Emerald City Gondolist Cult.
By Kristen Moulton
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:11/18/2006 12:33:39 AM MST
A businessman who has been snapping up property in blighted downtown Ogden and helped produce a video touting Mayor Matthew Godfrey's vision of the city as a recreational hub faces felony fraud charges in California.
Gadi Leshem, president and chief executive officer of Cover-All Inc., a flooring-installation company, is accused along with two of his executives of cheating California out of $11 million in workers-compensation insurance premiums since 2001.
Leshem, 59, pleaded not guilty to one felony count of conspiracy and four felony counts of insurance fraud earlier this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
His attorney, Mark Werksman, said the case is without merit and that he expects all charges to be dismissed.
Businessmen promoting Ogden have called Leshem a "visionary" who began investing in Ogden because he sees great promise in the northern Utah city's future as an urban center linked by gondola to a mountain resort.
He was the executive producer last year of a video - "Ogden: It's All Within Reach" - that Godfrey used to promote the city as a recreational magnet to prospective businesses.
The mayor did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday.
According to records at the Weber County Assessor's Office, Leshem has invested in 28 parcels - mostly vacant commercial land downtown - worth nearly $1.5 million.
Most of the property, including two warehouses and two old homes, sits along Wall Avenue or in the blighted area slated for redevelopment as part of the Ogden River Project."
Comments, anyone?
Update 11/20/06 6:09 p.m. MT: For the sake of archival continuity, we link yesterday's Standard Examiner article on this topic here. Std-Ex reporter Rebecca Palmer deftly adds Boss Godfrey's self-serving comments to the reportorial mix, in which he borrows a page from Bill Clinton's book, distances himself from his former "close pal," and weirdly refers to "golden gondolist boy" Leshem as "that individual." A Weber County Forum Tip o' The Hat to one anonymous gentle reader in the lower comments section for bringing that deja vu Boss Godfrey moment of official slimeyness to our attention.
Update 11/21/06 9:05 a.m. MT: We link here this morning's Scott Schwebke story, mysteriously buried on the Std-Ex print edition business page, breathlessly announcing Mr. Leshem's hope that his five pending felony charges will soon be dismissed, a hope univerally shared (and seldom realized) by every single defendant who has ever been charged with any criminal violation. As an added bonus, Ace reporter Schwebke devotes column-space to Boss Godfrey, as he further attempts to distance himself from Mr. Leshem. "A tremendous cheerleader," says Boss Godfrey (with a completely straight face,) in reference to gondolist visionary Leshem, but certainly not someone with a "central role" in Emerald City's ongoing real-life melodrama... yeah, THAT's the ticket.
