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January 31, 2013
Daveco Liquors owner relinquishes control By Darin Moriki
dmoriki@ourcoloradonews.com The owner of the world’s largest liquor store, Daveco Liquors, must relinquish control of the store to an independent blind trust for two years due to his role in a multi-million dollar racketeering scheme that defrauded the City of Thornton as well as the Colorado Department of Revenue. T h e m o v e , w h i c h would allow for a third-party trustee to eventually sell the business, G. Sawaged is part of an 11-page Department of R e v e n u e’s Liquor and To b a c c o Enforcement Division agreeB. Sawaged ment that n a m e s Daveco Liquors owner Hani “Henry” Sawaged, of Highlands Ranch, and his four brothers, Issam Sawaged, Ghassan D. Sawaged, Bassam D. Sawaged and Shafeek Sawaged as respondents. The family members also own Davidsons Liquors at 5555 Boatworks Drive in Highlands Ranch, but that store has not been implicated in the ruling. According to the Guinness Book of World Records website, the 100,073.1-square-foot Daveco Liquors store at 16434 Washington Street in Thornton opened on Nov. 18, 2006 and still holds the title for the world’s largest “off-license” liquor store. Denver District Attorney’s Office communications director Lynn Kim-
brough said the Department of Revenue investigation into Daveco Liquors began in September 2008, when the city Auditor’s Office discovered inconsistencies in sales tax amounts reported to the city during a routine sales tax audit. The case was then turned over to the Thornton Police Department and the Colorado Department of Revenue, which found that Sawaged and his brothers logged fictitious merchandise returns and pocketed $5.4 million dollars in cash from Daveco Liquors from at least January 2007 through August 2008. In all, court documents state the underreporting and underpaying sales tax to the City of Thornton and to the Colorado Department of Revenue resulted in losses exceeding $1 million. Hani Sawaged pleaded guilty in November 2012 to violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act in Denver District Court and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation. Hani Sawaged was also ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution to the state and the City of Thornton. In exchange for his guilty plea, the Denver District Attorney’s Office and Denver District Court dropped a total of 51 other felony charges against him, including 20 counts of filing false tax returns, three counts of theft exceeding $20,000 and four computer crime charges. Hani Sawaged’s two brothers, Ghassan D. Sawaged and Bassam D. Sawaged, pleaded guilty in August 2012 to one count of felony theft exceeding $15,000 and one felony count of failing to file a tax return. Both men are serving a one-year deferred judgment sentence and have been ordered to jointly pay $200,000 in restitution for their role in the scheme.
Highlands Ranch Herald 3
Highlands Ranch teacher found dead Missing 44-year-old’s body located near Nederland By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com Timothy Schall, 44, of Highlands Ranch, was found dead Jan. 21 near the Town of Nederland, two days after he had been reported missing. Officials do not suspect foul play. Following up on tips from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Boulder Police Department,
the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office began searching for Schall shortly before 6 p.m. Jan. 20. Boulder sheriff’s deputies located his vehicle off of Magnolia Road within the hour. A search party was quickly initiated, but the search was called off after several hours because of the darkness, rugged terrain and extreme low overnight temperatures. The search resumed at 9 a.m. Jan. 21 with deputies and officers from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office and Nederland Police Department, along with members of Rocky Mountain Rescue and Front Range Rescue Dogs. Schall’s body
las County office is not in search of any suspects at this time, nor has anyone been taken into custody. The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office also released a statement saying foul play was not suspected. An autopsy has been conducted on Schall by the Boulder County Coroner’s Office and the manner of death will be released pending further investigation. Schall was a literacy teacher at Cresthill Middle School, and according to the SPEAK for DSCD Facebook page, also coached flag football. A service was held Jan. 28 at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Aurora.
was located about a halfmile north of his vehicle at 2:30 p.m. “We received a report on Jan. 19 of a missing subject who may be suicidal,” said Sgt. Ron Hanavan, spokesman for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. “Based on the information we obtained, we asked Boulder to assist. We were told he may be in the area near the 14th Street bus station in Boulder, but it sounds like he was located out in the county. Sadly he was found deceased.” Hanavan said there appeared to be no suspicious activity in relation to Schall’s disappearance or death and that the Doug-
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