Ex-Tibetan monk accused of defrauding Chinese real estate investors in US

LOBSANG Dargey arrived in the US in 1997 and set to work spinning a classic immigrant success story. The former Tibetan monk wasn't fluent in English and didn't have much money, but managed to work his way up from handyman to successful Seattle-area real estate developer. Now, it seems, Dargey's assent from humble Buddhist to red-blooded capitalist is complete. Because he's been accused of securities fraud.  The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday filed a complaint in US District Court alleging that Dargey defrauded investors - mostly Chinese nationals who funded Dargey's projects in hopes of getting green cards - in a scheme that sounds like one part bait-and-switch and one part simple larceny. On Tuesday, the SEC said that a court had frozen Dargey's assets and issued an injunction to prevent him from soliciting new investors.

According to the complaint, Dargey raised US$125 million from 250 investors to develop a 40-storey skyscraper in downtown Seattle, as well as a mixed-use building in nearby Everett, Washington. Dargey sold investors on the two projects, the SEC said, by telling them that their investments would help them gain US residency through the EB-5 Program, which confers green cards to foreign investors who put at least US$500,000 into job-creating projects.

But Dargey used US$14.7 million of that money to fund other real estate projects not identified in offering documents, the complaint said. Dargey is also accused of using US$2.5 million in investors' money to buy a home in Bellevue, Washington, and withdrawing more than US$200,000 in investor money from casinos in the US and Canada.