Joop Bollen Arrested on Felony Charges Related to EB-5
By Cory Allen Heidelberger on 2016-03-31
Looks like I’ll be at the courthouse tomorrow morning.
Joop Bollen and the man who got him into this mess?
PIERRE, S.D.- Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that felony criminal charges have been filed in relation to EB5 and SDRC Inc.
Joop Bollen voluntarily turned himself in on an arrest warrant. He has cooperated and has been released by the Court on bond conditions. Bollen is presumed innocent until such time as proven guilty.
Attorney General Jackley will be handling the initial appearance, which is scheduled for Friday, April 1, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. at the Brown County Courthouse and will be available for comment following the hearing [Attorney General’s Office, press release, 2016.03.31].
Bear, no. I have the court documents, am reading, will post shortly.
M.K.
2016-03-31 16:00
Will we get to the truth ?
Monty
2016-03-31 16:00
Jeff Barth’s request in 2014 to the court to preserve the record seems well founded.
Sam2
2016-03-31 16:04
Looks like Marty is attempting to put some distance between his crooked friends and himself. Looks his campaign for governor has begun!!!!
Roger Cornelius
2016-03-31 16:31
Anybody know if this was a grand jury indictment?
Whither
2016-03-31 16:43
Marty is shoring up his credibility ahead of a gov run. He releases TONS more info from the Gear UP scandal than would be his typical pattern, and now FELONY charges against Joop “What A Country!” Bollen.
Are those sweat droplets I see on Mike Rounds’s brow? Will a safe now go missing from Jeff Sveen’s house? Is Brendan Johnson now cleaning out his shorts after failing to bring any federal charges.
Feel that rumbling, South Dakota? It’s the political earth moving beneath everyone’s feet.
96Tears
2016-03-31 17:00
Little Jonny Ellis at Sanford Leader must be feeling like a dope after mocking the late Pat Duffy for providing a case nearly two years ago that Marty Jackley could have used at any time since then.
None of the arrests so far mean much if Marty doesn’t also indict some of the SDGOP Protected Class. Joop isn’t a small fish like those netted (so far) in the Gear Up scandal. He’s more mid-sized. He can’t legitimately prosecute Joop without also reeling in Mike Rounds, the leader of the racketeering network.
Cory, knowing the Bollen indictment was coming down might have been the real reason why Daugaard appointed hatchet moll Pam Roberts to the Board of Regents. Damage control. These two events come too closely together to be chalked up to a coincidence.
Eve Fisher
2016-03-31 17:05
Well, let’s just hope he doesn’t go walking in a cornfield while out on bond…
Robin Friday
2016-03-31 17:08
Wow! Good luck, Cory! I can’t believe this has finally happened. We all tried to tell them Rounds was involved, either through some kind of collusion or look-the-other-way, or witless incompetence.
Rorschach
2016-03-31 17:13
We’ve come a long way from “The dead guy did it. My case is closed. Anything else is a federal matter.” Makes all of the denial coming from the AG’s office prior to the 2014 election seem politically motivated. I will watch to see what evidence they have now that wasn’t available 3+ years ago before the AG closed his case. Maybe the crooks and the mayor of crooks aren’t as safe as they thought they were.
Straight outta ridge
2016-03-31 17:16
South Dakota’s GOP faithful love a “Ball Bustin” governor and so Marty is approaching it the way Wild Bill Janklow approached the American Indian Movement back in the 70’s.
Knock heads n ask questions later!!
Rorschach
2016-03-31 17:50
Nah. Marty found out about the Joopster’s shenanigans almost the very day he was sworn into office on September 4, 2009. It was already known by then that the State had been sued in California and that the Joopster had filed pleadings without telling anyone about it. It was already known by then that the Joopster – while working for the State – signed a contract with his new company SDRC Inc. to privatize EB-5 profits through SDRC in January 2008. The Joopster continued working for the State till December 21, 2009 – though it was known that he had wrongfully concealed a lawsuit against the state and improperly acted as an attorney in that lawsuit. Essentially from January 2008 through December 2009 the Joopster was double-dipping taking a state paycheck and sending business to his private company SDRC, Inc. Jackley did nothing about this. Then on December 22, 2009, one day after leaving state employment, the Joopster got a no-bid contract to privatize EB-5 entirely – a reward apparently for being a “faithless employee” as Pat Duffy would say. Joopster took all the state’s records from his Northern State office when he went to the private sector. Still, Jackley did nothing. The only reasonable explanation I can come up with for the newly-appointed AG doing nothing about any of the Joopster’s shenanigans when he first found out about them is that his new boss who just appointed him – Mike Rounds – told him not to do anything.
Ex-Democrat
2016-03-31 18:16
Rorschach: This stuff about this corrupt piece of trash Bollen has been known for years, and yet Jackley just sits on his butt and does nothing about the corrupt signing. The ENTIRE structure of this “citizenship for sale” was corrupt, just as you say so accurately, from DAY #1.
mike from iowa
2016-03-31 18:36
Something smells me having Jackley in on the prosecution could lead to technical conflicts of interest charges and let Bollen escape justice once again. Just an unfounded hunch.
Jenny
2016-03-31 19:38
I appreciate your summarizing of Joop’s crimes layman’s terms, Rohr. South Dakotans need to be reminded of these serious crimes.
It is baffling about Rounds and Jackley letting this blatant EB mess slip by. I’ve come to the conclusion that:
1. Rounds didn’t care where the buck stops, he became lazy.
2. Jackley didn’t want to get involved and make a big deal about it b/c his boss Rounds didn’t seem to care.
3. Rounds is just not that bright and is really naïve and trusting.
4. Jackley is considering a run for governor and wants to be known as the tough guy on crime now so he had to make sure to get Joop on something.
5. Jackley very well could be protecting himself and Rounds and company by not charging Joop too severely b/c Joop can not be trusted. A sociopath like Joop hat had that much power with EB5 would know how to play Rounds and Jackley. Joop very well could know how corrupted SDs state govt is and would have done his homework to dig up anything on Rounds, Jackley and other boys in the SD mafia (as I call it).
Roberts! Regents! 96, is there anything EB-5 for Roberts to clean up, or just GEAR UP?
The Regents meet again tomorrow morning from 9 to noon. Nothing is listed on the agenda—do they still have items from today to clean up?
Rorschach
2016-03-31 22:16
You are mistaken about Mike Rounds, Jenny. He was not lazy or detached. He’s not a dullard. This was his baby. EB-5 was a centerpiece of his economic development, and Rounds followed it very very closely. Rounds protected Bollen when his old AG wanted to lower the boom. And Rounds protected Bollen when his new AG wanted to lower the boom. And Rounds protected Bollen when certain people at Northern State and working for the Board of Regents wanted to lower the boom. Instead of lowering the boom, Rounds rewarded this unfaithful servant – upon whom everyone else wanted to lower the boom – by fully privatizing the massive, massive, EB-5 revenue stream. But why? I believe that the facts, if pursued, would show that members of Mike Rounds’ family and possibly Mike Rounds himself personally benefited from the EB-5 shell game in which millions were made to disappear as excessive payments on sham loans from foreign lenders. There are still those in the Republican party who want some accountability for the guilty – and not just Bollen. If the federal government pokes a hole in that dike Mike Rounds will be washed away with his friend Joop Bollen.
Rorschach
2016-03-31 22:25
Somewhere in LA, somebody knows which Rounder got paid. And why.
Jenny
2016-03-31 22:48
Rohr, that is an interesting theory on Rounds being in on the scam, but until you have proof……The Rounds family is a very, very reputable family in Pierre. I don’t know them but this family is hugely popular and I have never heard of any corruption and wormy business dealings going on in their Insurance business. They are known to be good people. You need to look at the whole picture. I’m not saying Rounds would ever pull this, but this crime is huge, really huge. Would he have dared to? Who knows.
Do you have proof about the Northern State people and Jackly wanting to go after Joop earlier but Rounds refused?
Why would it be up to Rounds anyway to press charges? If there is proof of a genuine financial crime happening aren’t there other routes a witness can report to besides the state attorney general?
leslie
2016-04-01 08:48
two things.
EB5 is the big fish. $600,000,000 stream o’ funds, I once read here. joop is getting slapped for misappropriating $45 k or something?? rounds is now a republican (once arrogant) senator.
while waving stars & bars stace fails to include slavery in his history of the 2nd amendment, and likely illegally concealed carried in the state capitol, endangering lives defending an NRA myth;) and he insists we capitalize the marine wing of the “4th branch of federal power” (the military/industrial complex).
it is already clear republican arrogance breeds corruption in SD.
south Dakota elected leadership in the republican party is truly warped.
Stace Nelson
2016-04-01 12:11
@Leslie Your nasty comments are a perfect example of the over the top extreme partisanship that infects politics today. You hate some one you have never met simply because they disagree with you on issues and because of party registration.
In 2011, the attorney general provided an official legal determination that myself and several other retired/active law enforcement legislators were legally authorized to carry in the Capitol under the provisions of the federal Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act. Out of concern for the corrupt actions of several legislators and the governor’s office in the incident they lied and claimed I threatened to kill Nick Moser on the House floor? I stopped carrying out of concern they would concoct other circumstances and lies to deprive me of my life and liberty.
leslie
2016-04-01 12:53
i’m anything but nasty. so u did carry. thank you. I didn’t know u had an AG permission slip so maybe that’s fine. do all those folk’s have the same status as current and capable as a full time cop? I had the misimpression that u and liz may carried there and it was illegal. I didn’t call u any names, big dude.
that’s the problem with having public discussions about guns with people that define carrying as “life and liberty”. I know, psffst! (cue “rawhide”)
oh, didja hear about 1.20.09 obstructionists dindin on inauguration night? ” over the top extreme partisanship ” my ass
shelly
2016-04-01 19:17
About time.
←waiting for the rest of the dominoes to fall
It’s about time, what took so long?
Tell me that this is not an April fool’s joke.
Is Jeff Sven implicated?
Jenny, don’t know!
Jerry, it’s not!
Bear, no. I have the court documents, am reading, will post shortly.
Will we get to the truth ?
Jeff Barth’s request in 2014 to the court to preserve the record seems well founded.
Looks like Marty is attempting to put some distance between his crooked friends and himself. Looks his campaign for governor has begun!!!!
Anybody know if this was a grand jury indictment?
Marty is shoring up his credibility ahead of a gov run. He releases TONS more info from the Gear UP scandal than would be his typical pattern, and now FELONY charges against Joop “What A Country!” Bollen.
Are those sweat droplets I see on Mike Rounds’s brow? Will a safe now go missing from Jeff Sveen’s house? Is Brendan Johnson now cleaning out his shorts after failing to bring any federal charges.
Feel that rumbling, South Dakota? It’s the political earth moving beneath everyone’s feet.
Little Jonny Ellis at Sanford Leader must be feeling like a dope after mocking the late Pat Duffy for providing a case nearly two years ago that Marty Jackley could have used at any time since then.
None of the arrests so far mean much if Marty doesn’t also indict some of the SDGOP Protected Class. Joop isn’t a small fish like those netted (so far) in the Gear Up scandal. He’s more mid-sized. He can’t legitimately prosecute Joop without also reeling in Mike Rounds, the leader of the racketeering network.
Cory, knowing the Bollen indictment was coming down might have been the real reason why Daugaard appointed hatchet moll Pam Roberts to the Board of Regents. Damage control. These two events come too closely together to be chalked up to a coincidence.
Well, let’s just hope he doesn’t go walking in a cornfield while out on bond…
Wow! Good luck, Cory! I can’t believe this has finally happened. We all tried to tell them Rounds was involved, either through some kind of collusion or look-the-other-way, or witless incompetence.
We’ve come a long way from “The dead guy did it. My case is closed. Anything else is a federal matter.” Makes all of the denial coming from the AG’s office prior to the 2014 election seem politically motivated. I will watch to see what evidence they have now that wasn’t available 3+ years ago before the AG closed his case. Maybe the crooks and the mayor of crooks aren’t as safe as they thought they were.
South Dakota’s GOP faithful love a “Ball Bustin” governor and so Marty is approaching it the way Wild Bill Janklow approached the American Indian Movement back in the 70’s.
Knock heads n ask questions later!!
Nah. Marty found out about the Joopster’s shenanigans almost the very day he was sworn into office on September 4, 2009. It was already known by then that the State had been sued in California and that the Joopster had filed pleadings without telling anyone about it. It was already known by then that the Joopster – while working for the State – signed a contract with his new company SDRC Inc. to privatize EB-5 profits through SDRC in January 2008. The Joopster continued working for the State till December 21, 2009 – though it was known that he had wrongfully concealed a lawsuit against the state and improperly acted as an attorney in that lawsuit. Essentially from January 2008 through December 2009 the Joopster was double-dipping taking a state paycheck and sending business to his private company SDRC, Inc. Jackley did nothing about this. Then on December 22, 2009, one day after leaving state employment, the Joopster got a no-bid contract to privatize EB-5 entirely – a reward apparently for being a “faithless employee” as Pat Duffy would say. Joopster took all the state’s records from his Northern State office when he went to the private sector. Still, Jackley did nothing. The only reasonable explanation I can come up with for the newly-appointed AG doing nothing about any of the Joopster’s shenanigans when he first found out about them is that his new boss who just appointed him – Mike Rounds – told him not to do anything.
Rorschach: This stuff about this corrupt piece of trash Bollen has been known for years, and yet Jackley just sits on his butt and does nothing about the corrupt signing. The ENTIRE structure of this “citizenship for sale” was corrupt, just as you say so accurately, from DAY #1.
Something smells me having Jackley in on the prosecution could lead to technical conflicts of interest charges and let Bollen escape justice once again. Just an unfounded hunch.
I appreciate your summarizing of Joop’s crimes layman’s terms, Rohr. South Dakotans need to be reminded of these serious crimes.
It is baffling about Rounds and Jackley letting this blatant EB mess slip by. I’ve come to the conclusion that:
1. Rounds didn’t care where the buck stops, he became lazy.
2. Jackley didn’t want to get involved and make a big deal about it b/c his boss Rounds didn’t seem to care.
3. Rounds is just not that bright and is really naïve and trusting.
4. Jackley is considering a run for governor and wants to be known as the tough guy on crime now so he had to make sure to get Joop on something.
5. Jackley very well could be protecting himself and Rounds and company by not charging Joop too severely b/c Joop can not be trusted. A sociopath like Joop hat had that much power with EB5 would know how to play Rounds and Jackley. Joop very well could know how corrupted SDs state govt is and would have done his homework to dig up anything on Rounds, Jackley and other boys in the SD mafia (as I call it).
Roberts! Regents! 96, is there anything EB-5 for Roberts to clean up, or just GEAR UP?
The Regents meet again tomorrow morning from 9 to noon. Nothing is listed on the agenda—do they still have items from today to clean up?
You are mistaken about Mike Rounds, Jenny. He was not lazy or detached. He’s not a dullard. This was his baby. EB-5 was a centerpiece of his economic development, and Rounds followed it very very closely. Rounds protected Bollen when his old AG wanted to lower the boom. And Rounds protected Bollen when his new AG wanted to lower the boom. And Rounds protected Bollen when certain people at Northern State and working for the Board of Regents wanted to lower the boom. Instead of lowering the boom, Rounds rewarded this unfaithful servant – upon whom everyone else wanted to lower the boom – by fully privatizing the massive, massive, EB-5 revenue stream. But why? I believe that the facts, if pursued, would show that members of Mike Rounds’ family and possibly Mike Rounds himself personally benefited from the EB-5 shell game in which millions were made to disappear as excessive payments on sham loans from foreign lenders. There are still those in the Republican party who want some accountability for the guilty – and not just Bollen. If the federal government pokes a hole in that dike Mike Rounds will be washed away with his friend Joop Bollen.
Somewhere in LA, somebody knows which Rounder got paid. And why.
Rohr, that is an interesting theory on Rounds being in on the scam, but until you have proof……The Rounds family is a very, very reputable family in Pierre. I don’t know them but this family is hugely popular and I have never heard of any corruption and wormy business dealings going on in their Insurance business. They are known to be good people. You need to look at the whole picture. I’m not saying Rounds would ever pull this, but this crime is huge, really huge. Would he have dared to? Who knows.
Do you have proof about the Northern State people and Jackly wanting to go after Joop earlier but Rounds refused?
Why would it be up to Rounds anyway to press charges? If there is proof of a genuine financial crime happening aren’t there other routes a witness can report to besides the state attorney general?
two things.
EB5 is the big fish. $600,000,000 stream o’ funds, I once read here. joop is getting slapped for misappropriating $45 k or something?? rounds is now a republican (once arrogant) senator.
while waving stars & bars stace fails to include slavery in his history of the 2nd amendment, and likely illegally concealed carried in the state capitol, endangering lives defending an NRA myth;) and he insists we capitalize the marine wing of the “4th branch of federal power” (the military/industrial complex).
it is already clear republican arrogance breeds corruption in SD.
south Dakota elected leadership in the republican party is truly warped.
@Leslie Your nasty comments are a perfect example of the over the top extreme partisanship that infects politics today. You hate some one you have never met simply because they disagree with you on issues and because of party registration.
In 2011, the attorney general provided an official legal determination that myself and several other retired/active law enforcement legislators were legally authorized to carry in the Capitol under the provisions of the federal Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act. Out of concern for the corrupt actions of several legislators and the governor’s office in the incident they lied and claimed I threatened to kill Nick Moser on the House floor? I stopped carrying out of concern they would concoct other circumstances and lies to deprive me of my life and liberty.
i’m anything but nasty. so u did carry. thank you. I didn’t know u had an AG permission slip so maybe that’s fine. do all those folk’s have the same status as current and capable as a full time cop? I had the misimpression that u and liz may carried there and it was illegal. I didn’t call u any names, big dude.
that’s the problem with having public discussions about guns with people that define carrying as “life and liberty”. I know, psffst! (cue “rawhide”)
oh, didja hear about 1.20.09 obstructionists dindin on inauguration night? ” over the top extreme partisanship ” my ass
About time.
←waiting for the rest of the dominoes to fall