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SALT LAKE CITY — A Nevada man claims St. George businessman and helicopter humanitarian Jeremy Johnson owes him $20 million.
Chad Elie, who owns a company called Viable Marketing, filed a federal lawsuit in late December alleging Johnson reneged on an Internet business deal. The lawsuit, which in addition to Johnson names his father and several business associates, is sealed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. But Elie lays out his allegations in a 13-page declaration filed in the case last week.
Elie runs an e-payment processing company for merchants whose customers prefer to pay online by check or debits to their bank accounts instead of using credit cards. He and Johnson agreed in November 2009 to a deal in which Elie could process the transactions through Sunfirst Bank in St. George.
"As a result of his trusted relationship with Sunfirst, Johnson represented to me that he was in a unique position to ensure that I could successfully process for my online merchants," Elie wrote.
The two agreed to split the profits in half. The partnership netted about $40 million in a year, according to the declaration.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint against Johnson alleging he and eight associates ran online businesses that lured people into memberships for bogus government grants and moneymaking schemes and then repeatedly charged them monthly fees for programs they didn't sign up for. Federal authorities are seeking to freeze Johnson's assets in the case in which the SEC contends Johnson made $275 million.
Johnson has denied any wrongdoing.
Elie claims in his declaration that when he asked Johnson about the profitability of their joint venture, he was shown a phony balance sheet reflecting a net loss. Later, he wrote, Johnson inadvertently gave him a second balance sheet showing the deal had reached the anticipated $40 million target.
"The second balance sheet clearly indicates that Johnson siphoned profits from the business venture to make 'other payments,'" the declaration states.
Those payments, Elie contends, include personal investments in oil, gold and real estate. In addition, he claims Johnson bought an airplane and made income tax payments.
Elie wrote that Johnson offered him gold as payment for his share of the profits, but when he went to pick it up, Johnson had moved it to another location.
Like the SEC, Elie wants the court to freeze Johnson's assets and issue a temporary restraining order.
In addition to Johnson, defendants named in the lawsuit are Sunfirst Bank, Town & Country Bank, Triple Seven LLC, Scott Leavitt, Jason T. Vowell, Todd L. Vowell, Loyd Johnston and Kerry Johnson.
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