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ELECTION | City Council race certified, Chinchilla wins second spot for general election by 27 votes [3]
FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2015 Sailing | Tall ships return to Kirkland [6]
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Carner | Former Kirkland resident in golf hall of fame [5]
Potala Village developer under investigation by SEC for fraud BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
T
he developer of the Potala Village project in the Lakeview neighborhood is under investigation by the federal government for allegedly misappropriating millions of dollars from overseas investors. Lobsang Dargey is being sued in federal court by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for
allegedly raising more than $125 million through sales of securities to at least 250 investors for Path America and the Potala Place development in Everett. The EB-5 visa system allows foreign nationals who invest at least $500,000 in a project that generates or preserves at least 10 jobs for U.S. workers to qualify for residency in the United States. The SEC complaint alleges that Dargey and Path America used the
EB-5 system to raise money ments would make them from Chinese investors by eligible for U.S. residency encouraging them to invest but didn’t disclose those in Potala Place and investments would Potala Tower, but not qualify under then misapproprithe EB-5 program ated $17.6 million, if they weren’t used $14.7 million involvfor those dedicated ing Potala Shoreline projects, according to LLC and Potala Vilthe complaint. lage Kirkland LLC, Details are providLobsang Dargey which are not eligible ed in the complaint for the EB-5 visa and hundreds of program. pages of supporting docuDargey allegedly promised ments. Among other things, his backers that their investthey show that each inves-
tor who bought a $500,000 partnership interest in either of the two Path America projects also was charged a $45,000 administrative fee. The investment capital was wired to an escrow account in the United States while the administrative fee was wired to an account in Hong Kong. Then on Sept. 14, 2014, Dargey used nearly $2.5 million from the account in his and his wife’s names to purchase a home in Bellevue. The purchase was made
in the name of Bellewood Farms Trust, the beneficiaries of which are the Dargeys. The suit also alleges that Dargey withdrew about $350,000 in cash from both the Potala Tower and Potala Place accounts between October 2012 and June 2015, mostly with a debit card or at a bank or casino teller. From 2012-15, Dargey allegedly diverted $7.5 million from the Potala Farmer’s [ more POTALA page 8 ]
New Kirkland company helps tech businesses share resumes Yip. This year so far, they have already hired 40 new employees and are looking As the expanding tech to fill another 20 positions industry in the Seattle area by October. In 2014, their searches for the appropriate employees tripled to 77. candidates to fill more and While the network almore roles, one Kirklandlows recruiters from each based start-up has turned company to share resumes, to a creative solution the open houses allow the cooperating with other recruiters and current emcompanies. ployees to interact socially BitTitan, an IT change with potential candidates. automation company Human Resource specializing in Manager Darci Lee “We are very data migration and said it also gives onboarding, hosted picky. We don’t them a chance to have the luxury an open house of overhead.” ask questions that event last Thursday normally wouldn’t Geeman Yip at their office on come up during Lake Washington job interviews, Boulevard Northand candidates get east for job-seekers as part a feel for the company’s of Seattle Startup Recruit atmosphere. Week. Eleven other com“Culture is very imporpanies also hosted similar tant to us,” Yip said. open house events at their As part of the open offices. The companies are house, they also feature part of a network comcoding challenges that prised of 30 companies gives candidates the chance in the area in which they to show their skill, with share resumes and help prizes offered for the wineach other find the most ners. appropriate person for the The network first started position they’re looking about a year and a half ago, to fill. according to Lee, when she For growing start-ups said she had trouble filling like BitTitan, the networkpositions. ing and open houses are “I felt like there’s got to essential as they look to fill be a better way,” she said. dozens of open positions, Traditionally, she said, according to CEO Geeman [ more BIT page 3 ] BY TJ MARTINELL
tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
Tolling Division Assistant Secretary Craig Stone and WSDOT Secretary Lynn A. Peterson discuss the details surrounding the tolling for the two high occupancy lanes (HOV) on Interstate-405, which is set for Sept. 27. TJ MARTINELL, Reporter
Tolling on I-405 through Kirkland to start Sept. 27 BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has announced it will begin tolling the two high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on Interstate 405 from Bellevue to Lynnwood starting Sept. 27. The express toll lanes run for 17 miles from where it meets I-5 in Lynnwood to Northeast 6th Street in Bellevue - through Bothell and Kirkland. The toll rates were set by the Washington
State Transportation Commission (WSTC) earlier this year. At a press conference Thursday in Bothell, Tolling Division Assistant Secretary Craig Stone said the tolling represents 15 years of working with the community and the public to address growing traffic congestion on the Eastside. Stone and other WSDOT officials believe the toll lanes will help ease congestion and give drivers in the HOV lanes a more reliable trip. WSDOT Secretary Lynn A. Peterson added that the
lanes will also give drivers the option of taking a faster route, something which wasn’t available before. She said they expect there to still be congestion during peak hours, but that it will not happen as easily as it does now. In the meantime, Peterson said, drivers should take the time before Sept. 27 to get used to the system and get a Good to Go Pass in order to use the express toll lanes without an additional fee. “We need to be serious with our drivers,” Stone said.
“This is crunch time to get ready for Sept. 27. We want people to take action.” Drivers will also need a Flex Pass. Carpools will also have to get a transponder to place in the vehicle. So far, Stone said, they have distributed 50,000 passes, but they are looking for that number to grow in the coming weeks. Peterson said they chose Sept. 27 to start tolling because they needed to get the striping finished before the rainy season started but also give them time to test [ more 405 page 2 ]