Part owner of Saints Pub + Patio charged with federal wire fraud, ID theft

A Kansas attorney and restaurateur who is part owner of a well-known Des Moines metro bar and has had a stake in several others has been indicted on federal charges of identity theft and wire fraud.

Scott Anderson, of the Kansas City suburb of Lenexa, Kansas, is one of the partners in Riley Drive Entertainment, which owns Saints Pub + Patio in Waukee. Until recently it also owned the Beaver Tap and the since-shuttered Saints Pub + Patio in Beaverdale and the Tonic bar in West Des Moines. Anderson previously operated Des Moines restaurants under the names Taco Hangover and Union 29.

The company has been a prominent player in the metro restaurant scene, and led an ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit that went all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court, challenging Gov. Kim Reynolds' orders shutting down restaurants in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

An indictment filed last month in Kansas federal court alleges that Anderson has been falsifying loan documents, and at times impersonating his business partners, going back to at least 2018, on behalf of his companies. He faces 14 federal charges and attempts by the government to reclaim potentially millions of dollars he obtained via the alleged schemes.

It's not clear from the indictment if any of the loans in question were directly tied to any of Riley Drive's Iowa restaurants, but the two business partners identified as victims of identity theft are both Iowa residents.

Anderson has not yet entered a plea, and his attorney denied wrongdoing on his behalf.

"Scott Anderson intends to plead not guilty, and looks forward to addressing these allegations in court," attorney Robin Fowler said in an emailed statement. "He is confident that justice will be done, and that he will be cleared of all charges."

One of the partners declined to comment.

Alleged lies on SBA, PPP loan applications

The indictment, filed March 8, describes three episodes of alleged misconduct. In 2018 and 2019, prosecutors say, Anderson applied for Small Business Administration-backed loans from two different banks, and each time falsely stated in loan documents that neither he nor his businesses were involved in any legal action. In fact, both Anderson and some of his companies at the time were defendants in multiple civil lawsuits, the indictment says.

Both loans, for $3.6 million and $700,000, were ultimately approved, and Riley Drive defaulted on them in June 2019, leaving the government on the hook for more than $2.8 million.

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After COVID-19 arrived in 2020, Anderson applied for more loans for his companies through the Paycheck Protection Program, created under the federal CARES Act to offer forgivable financing to help businesses struggling with shutdowns and slow business keep their workers on the payroll. The indictment cites two of the applications, both of which appear to be for business entities registered in Kansas, in which Anderson made multiple false statements, including that he did not own any other businesses and that neither business had ever filed for bankruptcy.

It's not clear how many Riley Drive entities sought or obtained PPP loans. Data released by the Small Business Administration show five loans to Riley Drive subsidiaries in Iowa for amounts ranging from $30,000 to $74,000, most of which appear to have been forgiven. The indictment does not state whether the two Kansas PPP loans were approved, or how much Anderson sought for each company.

Forged signatures, faked phone calls

In addition to four counts of making false statements on a loan application, Anderson faces four counts of wire fraud and six counts of aggravated identity theft, all related to efforts to receive "future receivables sales agreements," essentially cash advances against future revenues, from Itria Ventures, a Delaware financial company.

According to the indictment, Anderson forged the signatures of two business partners, identified only by initials, on the agreements with Itria. Because Itria requires individuals who sign such agreements to confirm them over the phone, Anderson allegedly supplied two employees with private information about his business partners, including partial Social Security numbers, and had them pose as them on phone calls with Itria.

According to the indictment, Itria provided Anderson at least $1.16 million in four separate payments in 2018 and 2019.

Other legal action against local restaurateurs

Prosecutors are seeking a money judgment against Anderson for the gross proceeds of all fraudulently obtained loans and agreements. He also could face substantial fines and prison time if convicted.

In the Des Moines restaurant scene, Anderson is the third prominent figure in recent months to find himself in legal jeopardy. Steve McFadden, owner of Tipsy Crow, Dough Mama, and several other establishments, was charged in December with multiple counts of stalking for allegedly using a GPS device to monitor the movements of a former girlfriend.

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His friend Edwin Allen III, owner of Zora Bar & Rooftop, also was charged in the alleged stalking scheme. A residential landlord as well as nightclub owner, he faced two separate charges of harassing tenants. He reached a plea agreement that allowed him to plead to a single disorderly conduct charge in all three cases, and said he would testify against McFadden.

But then Allen was charged last week with serving two underage women in his establishment. The women have reported they were sexually assaulted there on Feb. 12, but no charges have been filed. And on Friday, he was arrested again and his pretrial release was revoked ― a move he claims in a court filing was retaliation against him for seeking dismissal of the stalking case against him after the Polk County Attorney's Office reneged on the plea agreement.

In addition, another tenant claims in a lawsuit that he demanded sex from her in exchange for a break on her rent.

Correction: This article has been updated to correct Riley Drive Entertainment's current Des Moines metro holdings.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Attorney, Waukee restaurateur charged with fraud, identity theft