Man Accused Of Defrauding Investors Out Of $5.4M In Denver

DENVER, CO — A man is accused of defrauding dozens of investors over the past eight years in Denver, the city's district attorney announced Wednesday.

Geoffrey Wescott James, 56, faces 14 felony counts of committing theft and securities fraud. He's stolen or misappropriated at least $5.4 million from 45 investors since 2012, according to Denver District Attorney Beth McCann.

James is not a licensed broker and defrauded investors through his companies Veritas Incorporated, Tandem Global Inc. and Wescott Special Services, the DA's office said. All three companies are delinquent with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office and all three listed their business address as 1550 Larimer Street, which is the address for a UPS shipping store that offers postal box services.

James is accused of misleading investors by purporting to run a successful gold mining and importation business, McCann said. In exchange for their investment, he often promised his clients returns of between 200 percent and 600 percent within a 90-day period and/or 20 percent per month in the form of cash, gold, diamonds or a combination thereof, according to the DA's office. None of the investors had detailed knowledge of gold mining operations.

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James failed to uphold the terms of his investor agreements and misused a substantial portion of the investments for his personal benefit, the prosecutor said.

Investigators said he also failed to disclose that he had only ever imported a small amount of gold, that his businesses suffered losses and were never profitable, and that he was the defendant in several civil cases for which he had unsatisfied judgments of more than $1 million, according to the DA's office.

“It is quite probable that there are other investors who were victimized by Geoffrey James and we encourage those people to contact our Economic Crime Unit by calling 720-913-9179,” McCann said.

James' business dealings were investigated by the Division of Securities at the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.

James was indicted June 17, and he's scheduled for arraignment July 13.