Business Briefs

Idaho men sue city of Burley, court over property filled with old cars and appliances

Two men from Paul are suing the city of Burley, local judges and the Idaho Supreme Court after they say they were maliciously prosecuted for storing several vehicles and old appliances on property they owned.

The Times-News reports James E. Pedersen and Harold David Bailey filed the lawsuit in Idaho’s U.S. District Court on Dec. 5.

Bailey contends he was deprived of his property.

Pedersen was charged by the city with multiple counts of failure to abate a nuisance after he failed to clean the old cars and household goods from property owned by Bailey. The property is mostly shielded from public view by sheets of metal.

In the lawsuit, Pedersen says he was falsely imprisoned for 50 days in 2010. Bailey contends he was deprived of his property. They are asking for $100 million in damages.

The Associated Press

Former assistant bank manager pleads guilty in theft from ATM, owes $400K in restitution

A former assistant manager of a Bank of America branch in Hayden Lake has pleaded guilty to taking money from an automatic teller machine for a dozen years.

U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson says 58-year-old Mary Ann Head of Coeur d’Alene pleaded guilty Dec. 7 to making false entries in the books and records of a federally insured financial institution.

In the plea agreement, Head acknowledges taking money from the ATM and making false entries in the bank’s books, reports and statements to cover up the theft.

The plea agreement calls for Head to pay $400,000 in restitution for money taken between 1997 and December 2009, when the thefts were discovered. Sentencing is set for Feb. 27.

The Associated Press

Lodging revenues in Boise increased last year

Lodging tax revenue increased 6.34 percent in the Greater Boise Auditorium District fiscal year ended Nov. 30, Executive Director Pat Rice said.

The revenue, from a 5 percent tax on lodging rooms in the district, was $3,689,000 compared to $3,469,000 a year earlier. The gain reflects an increase in annual average daily room rate of as much as $2.50, and higher demand for rooms, he said.

The year-end average daily room rate was $72.07 in 2010 after dropping $3.62 from 2009.

Statistics on room occupancy and rates were not available as of Dec. 6.

IBR Staff

Bannock County economic development agency seeking new leader

Bannock Development Corporation (BDC), the economic development agency for Bannock County, which includes Pocatello and Chubbuck, is looking for a new executive director. Gynii Gilliam, the current executive director, is leaving to become the chief development officer for the Idaho Department of Commerce.

In an online job posting for the position, BDC said it’s looking for someone who can target businesses that could have sustained growth in the region and reach other development goals. Pay starts at $65,000 a year, plus benefits and performance bonuses.

“We’re looking for a person that has experience in economic development, particularly with a proven track record,” said Tim Forhan, the chair of the BDC board of directors. Forhan, the vice president for development at Sanctuary Wealth Management in Pocatello, said BDC wants to recruit businesses to move to the region, but also retain and expand existing businesses.

Gilliam led BDC since 2006. During her tenure, the area landed an Allstate call center and the Hoku Materials plant, while keeping ON Semiconductor after that company acquired AMI Semiconductor, which was headquartered in Pocatello.

IBR Staff

Idaho Independent Bank completes stock offer

An Idaho Independent Bank stock offering completed Nov. 30 raised $6 million, minus offering expenses, the Coeur d’Alene-based bank announced.

The bank sold 1,765,174 shares of common stock in the capital campaign that began Sept. 6. An additional $199,998 was raised by selling 58,823 shares following the offering. The offering’s expense total was not available immediately.

Stock in Idaho Independent Bank traded at $3.10 late Dec. 6, compared to a one-year range from $2.70 to $5.99. The value of all issued shares was $19.71 million combined Dec. 6.

In first announcing the stock offer, Idaho Independent said it aimed to build on capital and reserves to position itself for growth.

IBR Staff

Corder tapped to lead Senate committee on taxation; Siddoway named to head up Senate Ag

The Idaho Senate committees with authority over taxes and agriculture now have new chairmen.

Senate President Brent Hill on Dec. 6 named Sen. Tim Corder from Mountain Home as chairman of the Local Government & Taxation Committee.

Hill also tapped Sen. Jeff Siddoway of Terreton to lead the Agricultural Affairs Committee.

Corder takes over for former Lewiston Senator Joe Stegner, who stepped down to become the chief lobbyist for the University of Idaho.

Hill called Corder a proven businessman who understands the need for a pro-growth approach to tax policy. Corder is in his fourth term and previously chaired the Agricultural Affairs Committee.

Siddoway is a rancher and former president of the Idaho Wool Growers Association. Hill called the third-term senator a perfect fit for the leadership post.

The Associated Press

California woman gets 4 years for bank fraud

A California woman convicted for bank fraud and identity theft has been ordered to serve four years in a federal prison and repay more than $18,000 to her crime’s victims.

A federal judge in Idaho sentenced 27-year-old Janelyn Dasig, of San Francisco, Dec. 6 for her role in four separate fraud attempts earlier this year.

Dasig pleaded guilty to the felonies in September. She was charged with impersonating customers at a Wells Fargo branch in Eagle and withdrawing $18,300 from accounts.

She was arrested on Jan. 13 along with another woman, 29-year-old Luisa Lamonthe.

Lamonthe, of Oakland, Calif.,  was charged in a separate indictment and pleaded guilty to charges last month.

Dasig was also ordered to serve five years of probation after her release from prison.

The Associated Press

Kootenai Medical Center contractor bought out

Hospital Specialists PLLC, the company that provides in-house doctors for Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene, has been bought out by IPC: The Hospitalist Company.

The companies did not announce the sale price of Hospital Specialists and IPC spokeswoman Elaine Murphy said no other information would be made public outside of a news release announcing the acquisition.

Bob Zurcher, CEO of Hospital Specialists, said his Spokane, Wash.-based company provides eight hospitalists to Kootenai Medical Center. He said the hospital and its patients should not see any changes to the services they are provided.

“That was a key part of the process, we were working diligently behind the scenes to ensure the transition was as smooth as possible,” said Zurcher, who will remain with IPC as a regional director.

Hospitalists are physicians who treat patients inside hospitals, but have no outside practice.

Hospital Specialists also contracted with Holy Family Hospital in Spokane. Between the two hospitals, Hospital Specialists saw about 40,000 patients every year, according to IPC’s news release.

IBR Staff

E. Idaho outfitter gets prison for illegal guiding

A hunting and fishing guide from eastern Idaho has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for running his business without a license and giving false testimony in a bankruptcy case.

A federal judge Dec. 7 also barred 46-year-old Sidney Davis of Soda Springs from hunting, fishing and guiding clients anywhere in the world for three years after his release from prison.

Davis pleaded guilty in May to guiding an illegal mule deer hunt in October 2008 and arranging to have the meat shipped across state lines. As part of the plea deal, Davis also admitted to falsely omitting information in his 2005 bankruptcy case.

Davis had operated Trail Creek Lodge near Soda Springs since 1993, but his outfitting and guiding license was revoked in 1996 by state officials.

The Associated Press

Prosecutors say Idaho tax preparer orchestrated big tax scheme, filed $120M in fake returns

A tax preparer from Idaho has been charged with defrauding the government because federal prosecutors say she filed more than $120 million in false tax returns on behalf of clients in 30 states.

Federal prosecutors say Penny Lea Jones, who formerly went by the name Penny Lea Wardrop, was at the center of a so-called “redemption theory” tax scheme where she and six others claimed people could get tax refunds for the combined amount of their mortgages, car loans, credit card limits and other debts.

Jones pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Florida Dec. 6 to 42 charges, including one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and 41 counts of making false, fictitious and fraudulent claims.

The Associated Press

Comments are closed.