Suit: Scam aimed to buy into Wild

Call it the legal equivalent of a hip check.

A Minneapolis money manager at the center of a federal grand jury investigation into a currency investment program has accused his former business associate of trying to fraudulently claim ownership of the historic Van Dusen mansion in an effort to buy into the Minnesota Wild hockey team.

Trevor Cook said in a filing in Hennepin County District Court on Thursday that the former associate, Bo Beckman, had phony property records prepared to make it look like he owned the multimillion-dollar mansion just south of downtown Minneapolis to "inflate the value of his personal balance sheet" as he tried to buy into the Wild.

Beckman, who played hockey for the U.S. Air Force Academy and the University of Vermont, adamantly denied the allegation through his attorneys.

"Desperate people do, and say, desperate things," Beckman attorney Andrew Luger said in a prepared statement. "In my experience, people faced with the type of allegations made against Mr. Cook (including diverting millions of dollars of investor funds) often lash out at others and make wild and false accusations. That is what Mr. Cook is doing now."

The Wild allegations came amid a flurry of court filings this week involving the suspect currency investment program, which was pitched in the past several years by a loosely connected network of Twin Cities business entities that included the words Oxford, Universal Brokerage or the initials UB in their names. The investment program apparently collapsed in July, leaving hundreds of investors unable to withdraw their money despite promises that it would be fully liquid and would produce double-digit returns with no risk to their investment.

Among the other court filings this week:

• Cook filed a $3.55 million claim Friday in Hennepin County District Court against Minneapolis financial adviser L. Edward Baker, another former business associate, alleging that Baker fraudulently induced him to invest in a business venture last year that involved roping together investment advisory firms under a holding company.

• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asked a federal judge in Minneapolis to block Cook's attempt to freeze its investigation into the foreign currency investment program.

Cook's allegations about the Wild were made in response to a lawsuit filed in August by Beckman, his wife, Hollie, and his company, Oxford Private Client Group. That suit demanded an accounting of the funds placed into the foreign currency investment program Cook had promoted. Beckman encouraged many of his clients to invest in the program and received fees for doing so. But Beckman noted that he and his relatives also invested in it.

Cook responded in a filing this week that Beckman and his company are barred by the "doctrine of unclean hands due to their own inequitable conduct" from pursuing the lawsuit. Cook, who operated through Oxford Global Partners, says Beckman is a 50 percent owner of the firm "and therefore authorized and/or consented" to Cook's handling of the investment program.

Property records show that Cook paid $2.6 million for the Van Dusen mansion in June 2007 and sold it for a like amount to an entity called Oxford Global Advisors (OGA) one year later.

According to Cook's filing, Beckman owns 96 percent of OGA. Cook claims that Beckman told him he was engaged in serious negotiations to buy an unspecified stake in the Wild franchise, and that he had told NHL officials that he owned the Van Dusen mansion to bolster his net worth. Cook says Beckman told him he was going to dummy up a warranty deed and related documents to make it look like his company, OGA, owned the mansion.

"Mr. Beckman stated that this was just to show the NHL and that the documents would not affect Cook's ownership of the Property," wrote Cook's attorney, John Thompson of Oberman, Thompson and Segal. "Mr. Beckman never told Cook that he intended to record the warranty deed."

Cook alleges that in May 2008, OGA and Beckman had someone forge the signatures of Cook, his wife, Gina, and a notary public on a warranty deed that transferred title of the mansion.

"As part of the scheme to create false paperwork for the NHL, Mr. Beckman had his attorneys generate paperwork that made it appear as if Cook was giving the Property to OGA as a license fee for some intellectual property OGA claimed to own called the 'Oxford Global Platform,'" Thompson wrote, adding that no such intellectual property ever existed.

A spokesman for the Wild declined to comment Friday. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said, "There is no longer an ownership application pending for Mr. Beckman." He declined to say more.

Beckman's attorneys at Greene Espel said: "The facts, when fully presented to the court, will show that Mr. Cook agreed to transfer the mansion to OGA, and that the transaction was entirely proper and was prepared by a well-regarded law firm.

"The facts will also show that Mr. Cook admitted to at least one witness that he himself forged his wife's signature for his own purposes. It is our understanding that Mr. Cook wants the mansion back so he can sell it and retain the funds. Mr. Beckman believes that any funds from the sale of the mansion should go to investors."

The paperwork thickens

In a separate case, Cook filed an amended complaint Friday against Minneapolis money manager Baker, saying that he induced Cook to help finance a holding company of SEC investment adviser firms called Mesa Holdings Inc. Cook says he invested $3.55 million between September 2008 and June 2009. He also invested $200,000 in a currency fund set up by Baker.

Cook contends that Baker deceived him about the success of his investment advisory business and defrauded him by inducing him to invest in it. He also claims that Baker refused to return his currency investments despite a promise that he could withdraw the money at will.

Baker could not be reached for comment.

In another matter, the SEC filed a motion in federal court seeking to stop a legal action by Cook that seeks to halt its civil investigation of the currency investment program. "If the stay of proceedings sought by Cook were to be granted, the Commission's investigation would sit idle for an indefinite period of time, while the parties wait to see if an indictment is ever brought, and then wait further while any criminal prosecution runs its course. All the while, the public interest in vigorous enforcement of the securities laws would be frustrated," the SEC said.

"Courts rarely play a role in investigations. Indeed, the Commission must be free to conduct its investigation without undue interference or delay."

Dan Browning • 612-673-4493