Embattled Roseville businessman Steven Clark arrested for check fraud

Source: Pioneer Press, St.迷你倉價錢 Paul, Minn.Sept. 05--The founder of a Roseville software company forced into bankruptcy this spring has been charged with felony check forgery at an outdoor-goods store in Minneapolis.Steven Clark, who owes $2.47 million to the government and dozens of friends and co-workers who invested in his company, Arran Technologies, has never appeared for a court hearing in his bankruptcy case.Some of the people who claim he had scammed them were worried that Clark, who had business interests in Luxembourg and Slovenia, had fled the country.But last week, he was shopping at the Midwest Mountaineering store on Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis.On his first visit Aug. 27, a floor manager helped him select a tent, backpack, a sleeping bag and other camping equipment, said Michael White, the store's retail operations manager.Clark paid for the gear with a check drawn on an Arran Technologies account. Someone using a business check for payment is unusual, White said, but not against the store's policy. Minneapolis police said the check was for $1,437.After Clark left, the manager looked up Arran Technologies online, "and that's when we thought we had probably taken a bad check," White said.But Midwest Mountaineering got a second chance to head off Clark. He returned the next day to buy more camping equipment, including food and cooking gear, White said.A sales staffer recognized Clark, and when he tried to pay with another Arran Technologies check for $256, White was alerted. A call to the bank showed the check was bad."So I went down and asked him to come upstairs with me for a while," White said. "He was remarkably calm."Upstairs, White said, Clark told him that he thought the check was drawn on a different account and that he made a mistake. When the police arrived, Clark said he didn't have a local address and that he had stayed the previous night at a motel.Clark was arrested and taken to the Hennepin County Jail. He was released the next day. Clark did not return a call seeking comment.The 迷你倉rrest report lists an address for Clark in Columbia Heights. Clark previously had a condominium in Roseville, though foreclosure proceedings started on that unit this summer.Clark and Arran Technologies were forced into involuntary bankruptcy in May. The $2.47 million in liabilities includes an $831,780 tax lien from 2011 for unpaid state corporate income taxes.In recent years, Clark had raised money from several individuals, including executives at Minneapolis-based Valspar Corp., where he once worked, and fellow members of Midland Hills Country Club in Roseville.He told them that Arran Technologies, a legitimate software business, was going to develop software that real estate professionals could use in work related to the foreclosure crisis. But the plans apparently didn't work out, and some investors lost six-figure investments.The investors are alleging fraud, and their claims have led to two active criminal fraud cases in Roseville and an apparent investigation by the FBI, whose agents have interviewed some of the people who made investments.Clark hasn't been charged in connection with the claims from investors.In July, Clark failed to show up for a creditors' meeting in bankruptcy court and hasn't responded to other written requests from the court."The guy has been a total no-show," said Michael Iannacone, the trustee assigned to the two bankruptcy cases.Iannacone has filed motions to compel Clark to show up at a court hearing, and to turn over financial records, including tax returns. A bankruptcy court judge is expected to rule this week on those motions."I've spoken to other employees" of Arran Technologies, Iannacone said. "(Clark) kept the books very close to the vest. He did them himself."It's possible that Clark could have his day of reckoning sometime in October, Iannacone said.John Welbes can be reached at 651-228-2175.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) Visit the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) at .twincities.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存