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Tyler Tysdal Pleads Guilty To Financial Crimes, Agrees To Repay $18.5 Million To Investors

DENVER (CBS4) -- Fifty-year-old Lone Tree resident Tyler Tysdal, facing more than 70 felony charges in two separate criminal cases, reached a plea deal with prosecutors from the Denver District Attorney's Office June 24. He pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud in each of the cases.

Tysdal agreed to pay back $18.5 million to clients who deposited funds into Tysdal's investment schemes, the Denver DA's Office announced in a press release Thursday.

Those investors included celebrities, athletes and entertainers.

Their investments totaled more than $46.5 million.

"Tyler Tysdal conned people by making promises of exorbitant profits with little risk and by withholding the truth about his business dealings and operations," said Denver DA McCann. "These are all telltale signs of a scam that reinforce the adage: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We are pleased that we caught this skilled con artist and we thank the many victims who came forward to tell their stories."

According to case documents, a Denver grand jury indicted Tysdal and Grant Carter on racketeering charges. The two men incorporated Cobalt Sports Capital LLC in Denver in December of 2011. For the next eight years, Tysdal made short-term, high-interest loans and obtained obtained more than $46 million from 77 investors, per prosecutors.

"Through a complicated financial scheme," the DA's Office stated in its press release, "Tysdal defrauded investors by making false and misleading statements and by omitting key facts about his business dealings and operations."

The Denver Post reported that three former University of Southern California quarterbacks - Carson Palmer, Matt Cassel, and Mike Van Raaphorst - were among the victims of Tysdal's scheme.

The grand jury issued its indictment December 11, 2019. Tysdal turned himself in at the Glendale Police Department on the 17th and was released on a $10,000 bond. He appeared in court Christmas Eve.

Tyler Tysdal (Denver Financial Crime Arrest, from Glendale PD)
Tyler Tysdal (credit: Glendale Police Department)

A year later, a separate indictment was handed down based on Tysdal's solicitation of funds for a Curious Cork Imports LLC, a wine distributorship.

"Tysdal made false claims," the DA's stated in its press release, "that the company was valued at $15 million and was poised for continued success; that the company's private label wine alone was expected to soon be worth $25 million, and that investors could expect to see a return of 10 to 15 times their investment. Instead, three investors sustained a total loss of $500,000."

Tysdal is scheduled to be sentenced in both cases on January 21, 2022. He faces eight-year prison sentences in each in addition to the victims' restitution, although those terms could run simultaneously and not back-to-back. He is also expected to pay at least $2 million in restitution immediately.

Meanwhile, a search of online public records indicates Tysdal and Cobalt Sports Capital are defendant in a still-active civil litigation filed in 2016. CBS4 reached out to an attorney representing complainants in that case but had not yet received a reply. This story will be updated with any response.

Carter is scheduled for an August 26 court appearance in his case.

 

 

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