Jenson says failed resort angered friends, led to conflicting testimonies

Jenson says failed resort angered friends, led to conflicting testimonies

(Francisco Kjolseth)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Even as Marc Sessions Jenson was establishing an office and marketing exclusive memberships for a proposed ski and golf resort, there was evidence of problems with a major investor.

In 2008, XE Capital, a New York-based hedge fund that was supposedly backing the high-end resort development in Beaver County, was at odds with partners in the Mount Holly Club, Jenson testified during cross-examination Wednesday, his third day on the stand in the fraud case against him.

"They never followed through with their commitments. They only said they would," he said.

Nevertheless, Jenson claimed he never doubted the Mount Holly Club would be built, describing the conflict with XE Capital as a "lovers' quarrel."

Financing from other groups never solidified either, thanks in part, Jenson alleged, to XE blocking their progress through an operating agreement with the club. In the end, the Mount Holly Club went bankrupt and was bought out by one member of XE Capital, Shane Gadbaw, who Jenson said fell "too much in love with it" and had contrived to take it.

Jenson counted himself among the victims, who have accused Jenson of swindling them, as he testified Wednesday.

"When Gadbaw stole the resort, we all lost," Jenson said. "It was awful."

The Mount Holly Club, which aspired to emulate the overnight success of the lucrative Yellowstone Club in Montana, was to include 1,200 building lots starting at $1 million each, a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and a ski area managed by Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety.

Jeffrey Donner, a Colorado doctor who had paid $1.5 million for a charter membership at Mount Holly, testified in the case that Jenson never disclosed his prior criminal entanglements or the fact that the project was nearly broke.

Prosecutor Tim Taylor highlighted the conflicting claims against Jenson, including accusations that he said in presentations meant to woo investors that the project was debt-free.

"I never once made that comment," answered Jenson, arguing that real estate filings posted online would almost immediately expose the truth.

In order to advise potential investors of his previous criminal charges, a contingent he had agreed upon with the project's backers, Jenson said he directed them to speak with another member of the club and search online for news articles about the cases, then come to him with questions.

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Donner testified that those conversations never happened.

Jenson claims the embittered club members, his former friends, have falsely accused him.

"I hate to call them liars, even though they have told untruths," he said. "They appear to have lined up their testimonies to match one another."

Prosecutors cast the current charges against Jenson as the latest in a long history of deception and mishandled money, while attorneys representing Jenson have attempted to argue that the charges are recrimination from former Attorneys General Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow.

Shurtleff and Swallow are facing their own criminal charges centered around Jenson, who claims they shook him down for money and favors during a trip to the posh Southern California villa where he was living in 2009.

Disgruntled investors pointed their fingers at Jenson rather than XE Capital after two closed-door meetings with Shurtleff, defense attorney Marcus Mumford said in his opening statement.

The Utah Attorney General's Office, led by Shurtleff, initially filed charges against Jenson but removed itself from the case in 2013. Mumford sent subpoenas to Shurtleff and Swallow to testify in the trial. Their lawyers filed objections, which 3rd District Court Judge Elizabeth Hruby-Mills upheld.

Jenson's testimony often mentioned Shurtleff, reaching back to a previous conviction when he ultimately took a plea in abeyance on charges of securities fraud.

Jenson alleges the plea deal was crafted behind the scenes with then-Attorney General Shurtleff through a go-between, his self-described "fixer," Tim Lawson.

Jenson became emotional as he recounted how that plea deal fell apart when he was accused of failing to pay the required $4.1 million restitution. He claims he had been bypassing the courts and paying directly to a third-party under instructions from members of the attorney general's office.

In a court appearance about the restitution payments, Jenson said he offered a simple apology and left the rest to his lawyer, who had advised him to let him explain the situation. No explanation was given, however.

"I tried to get up and get my notes and talk, but I was too late," Jenson said, his voice broken by soft sobs.

Jenson is now serving a 10-year prison sentence on that conviction.

The defense rested its case late Wednesday. Final arguments will be heard Thursday morning.

Marc Jenson's brother, Stephen Roger Jenson, was also charged in the case and accepted a plea deal partway through the trial, pleading no contest to three reduced charges of third-degree felony communications fraud, while one additional fraud charge and 10 counts of money laundering, all second-degree felonies, were dismissed. He will be sentenced March 30.

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