Lawsuit accuses Brad Wilson of fraud, breach of contract and becoming a lawmaker to chase ‘sweetheart deals’

Utah House speaker and U.S. Senate candidate Brad Wilson is facing accusations of fraud and breach of contract in a lawsuit filed last month claiming he violated a business agreement.

David Peterson, the former chief financial officer of Wilson’s company, Destination Homes, accuses the Davis County Republican of refusing to pay interest on a $430,000 loan. In a statement, Wilson’s attorney called the lawsuit “baseless.”

The suit was filed on Sept. 28 in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City. Destination Homes co-founder David Bailey is also listed as a defendant.

“David Peterson is a disgruntled former employee of a company that Brad Wilson co-founded,” said Chris Hogle, Wilson’s attorney, in a statement. “Peterson has sought to transform an unfounded, years-old dispute with his former employer into a groundless lawsuit against Brad Wilson with false allegations timed to smear Brad Wilson and hurt his political campaign. We intend to vigorously defend Mr. Wilson and pursue all available remedies.”

Among the many claims in the complaint, Peterson alleges Wilson became a lawmaker so “he could move the Utah State Prison from its former location in Draper to its current location by the Salt Lake City Airport, in order for Destination Homes (and later Newtown Development) to develop that piece of property in Draper and to seek other sweetheart deals he could obtain by leveraging his position in the Utah House of Representatives.”

According to the complaint, Peterson agreed to join Destination Homes after Wilson invited him to ski at Snowbasin Ski Resort in 2006. Peterson claims the company was “in bad financial condition,” and that Wilson and Bailey “were spending large amounts of company money to make Brad Wilson appear successful by buying luxury cars, as he wanted to run for” the House.

Because the company was short on money, Peterson claims, he loaned $430,000 to Destination Homes so it could purchase Wheatfield Estates in Layton. The lawsuit claims there was an agreement for repayment with interest.

During the same period while the company “was strapped for cash,” court documents allege Wilson loaned former Utah Lt. Gov. Greg Bell and Chris Martineau $400,000 of Destination Homes’ money.

The complaint claims Bell and Martineau were unable to repay the loan, but because Wilson “needed help in getting his foot in the political door he didn’t want to pressure Bell to pay off the debt,” court documents read.

In a joint statement, both Bell and Martineau say Wilson or his company never loaned them any money.

“In 2006 Brad’s company agreed to buy several lots from our company, as did two other builders. When the financial crisis hit in 2008, it froze credit markets and made these deals unworkable,” the emailed statement reads. “We returned part of their deposit, and we mutually agreed to resolve all claims and go our separate ways. We made the exact same arrangement with the two other builders as well. I was never in a position to do Brad any political favors nor did he ask for any.”

Wilson was able to pay down the loan made by Peterson to $280,000, the complaint states — but he later “announced unilaterally that he would not be paying interest anymore on the company’s debt to Mr. Peterson.”

Peterson “was left stunned by the lack of loyalty” but signed a stock agreement to “salvage the relationship and the financial solvency” of the company.

According to the lawsuit, Destination Homes later announced it would forgive the loan given to Bell and Martineau. Peterson says he was instructed to not report the forgiven loan to the Internal Revenue Service.

Peterson resigned, according to the complaint, but claims a contract would have guaranteed him payment under the stock agreement if there was a “sales event.” Court documents point to Larry H. Miller Group purchasing Destination Homes in 2022, which Peterson claims was a “sales event.”

“Defendants agreed that a triggering event occurred if the contract had been signed, but denied payment, claiming that the Agreement had never been signed by” Wilson, court documents read.

Attachments filed in the 40-page complaint show an email Peterson sent to the law firm representing Wilson, where he lays out the motivations behind the lawsuit, including the claim that Wilson had his “high school aged son” fired from a part time job cleaning up construction sites.

Wilson allegedly told Peterson “‘it looked bad’ that the CFO’s son had a job at Destination Homes.”

In the email, Peterson writes: “I will take random actions at times and places I see fit. Things such as a billboard on Beck Street in October or Whistleblowing for Greg Bell owing taxes for forgiveness of debt.”

Before closing out the email, Peterson writes “For now, trolling Brad with the right people is an amusing endeavor.”

In the complaint, Peterson asks for unspecified damages as a result of Wilson’s alleged breach of contract, fraud and “conscious disregard for the rights of” Peterson.