Boulder Man, Mark Yost, Sentenced to 76 Months in Prison for Fraud, False Statements, and Money Laundering

DENVER—Mark Yost, manager of Yost Partnership, L.P., based in Boulder, Colorado, was sentenced on May 12, 2011 by U.S. District Court Judge Lewis T. Babcock to serve 76 months (over six years) in federal prison for fraud, false statements, and money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - Office of Inspector General announced. Judge Babcock further ordered Yost to pay $10,880,626 in restitution to the victims of his crime and to spend five years on supervised release following his imprisonment.

Mark Yost was charged by an information on January 26, 2011 for one count of wire fraud, four counts of false statements to financial institutions, one count of bank fraud, and one count of money laundering. On February 3, 2011, Yost plead guilty to all seven counts charged in the information.

According to the information as well as the plea agreement, Yost, manager of Yost Partnership and at one point chairman of the board and acting president of Flatirons Bank, received investor funds to trade in securities and to make other investments. On February 4, 2005, and continuing thereafter to on or about July 6, 2010, Yost devised and intended to devise a scheme to defraud Yost Partnership and the limited partners by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses. As part of the scheme, Yost, at the conclusion of each quarter of each year, beginning with the first quarter of 2005 and continuing through the second quarter of 2010, prepared account statements and caused them to be delivered to the limited partners, knowing each one of the statements to be false in that it overstated the value of the limited partner’s share of the assets of Yost Partnership. Yost failed to disclose to the limited partners that a certified public accountant had not completed an audit because the financial statements included inflated and improperly recorded values of the partnership’s interests in a privately held company and a publicly traded company.

During the course of the scheme, Yost diverted money which he was not entitled to and converted those funds for his own use and benefit. He also made multiple false statements to banks and in reports in order to obtain lines of credit and one loan. Banks included Flatirons Bank in Boulder, Colorado; First State Bank and Trust Company of Fremont, Nebraska; American National Bank of Fremont in Fremont, Nebraska; Kanabec State Bank in Mora, Minnesota; and First Citizens National Bank in Mason City, Iowa.

The financial statements for Yost Partnership from 2005 through 2009 falsely misrepresented the partnership’s total assets as of the end of those years.

“The defendant in this case took people’s hard-earned money, and instead of investing it as promised, he pocketed it for his own personal financial gain. The 78-month prison sentence demonstrates that those who defraud others will face criminal consequences, namely, prison,” said U.S. Attorney John Walsh.

“The agencies involved in this investigation worked together to stop the ongoing exposure of this criminal activity on our investment and banking community,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge James Yacone. “This kind of fraud activity has become all too familiar. The FBI will continue to pursue those individuals who use their positions to defraud others of their hard earned money.”

“This sentence should send a clear message; defrauding investors is a serious offense. IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to bring those to justice who victimize clients,” said Sean Sowards, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Denver Field Office.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS CI), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - Office of Inspector General (FDIC OIG).

This prosecution is part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.