5 more charges added to ex-exec's fraud case

FAYETTEVILLE -- Federal prosecutors filed five more charges against a former Procter & Gamble executive they say defrauded investors of at least $205,000.

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Darrell Rosen, 58, former Iams division director and now president of a business-training group in Fayetteville, pleaded innocent last month to three charges of wire fraud and four charges of money laundering in U.S. District Court.

Rosen waived arraignment and was not in court Monday. His attorney, Jack Schisler, entered innocent pleas on Rosen's behalf to four counts of filing false income tax returns and one count of making a false bankruptcy declaration.

Schisler also asked for a continuance to give him more time to prepare for trial. The case is set for May 8. Schisler asked that it be reset to July 17.

Rosen is free on a $10,000 bond and other conditions while awaiting trial.

Rosen owned dog care businesses Rover Oaks and Mountain Creek Kennels and has experience training and selling hunting dogs, according to the original indictment.

Rosen used this experience from 2010 to 2014 to trick people in Arkansas and Texas to invest in an unidentified "dog business," training and selling dogs to government agencies and private companies, including the Central Intelligence Agency. Rosen used false contract documents claiming to show those buyers were interested and promised generous returns on investment "as well as many other false representations," according to the indictment.

The indictment doesn't identify investors, saying only that "H.A." gave $100,000 to Rosen and "E.B." gave $105,000. It says Rosen used $161,000 to purchase cashier's checks payable to himself and three others, but it doesn't detail what the money bought.

Rosen worked for Procter & Gamble for almost 30 years, including a stint as business development executive at locations including Bentonville, until he retired in 2014. He's listed as president and chief operating officer at Optimus Training & Development in Fayetteville, which offers business coaching for individuals and companies. Mel Reed, Optimus CEO, said Rosen has been a contractor for the company for about a year.

Rosen filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in late 2014 claiming almost $3 million in liabilities, but he later waived his right to resolve, or discharge, at least some of his debts through the bankruptcy.

A court-appointed trustee -- who typically combs through someone's assets and debts after a bankruptcy filing to make sure both are accurate and then oversees the payment of the debts -- claimed Rosen transferred about $330,000 to two business associates to hide the money shortly before he filed for bankruptcy, according to a 2015 complaint.

An acting U.S. trustee for the region earlier that year said Rosen shouldn't be able to discharge his debt because Rosen "removed, transferred or concealed property of the estate" and hadn't fully explained why he withdrew $630,000 in the year prior to filing for bankruptcy.

Two men, J.R. Arnold and Henry Abel, sued Rosen in Arkansas circuit courts in 2014 claiming Rosen fraudulently convinced them to invest a combined $872,000 in a German shepherd-training business. Both cases were allowed to proceed despite Rosen's bankruptcy filing with the bankruptcy court's permission, and the pair won judgments ordering Rosen to pay back the full amount.

Jon P. Robinson, a Springdale attorney representing Arnold and Abel, confirmed Abel was the "H.A." identified in the federal indictment. His clients haven't received any money from the circuit court rulings, he said.

"My clients hope they get restitution and a conviction," Robinson said. "This person took advantage of some really good folks."

Metro on 04/25/2017

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