THE LIE:
 

False accusations have been thrown at Greg Lopez by his Republican gubernatorial opponent and the media regarding a settlement between Greg and the SBA (Small Business Administration).  Greg’s response to these deceptive accusations is ignored and these invalid accusations continue to be stated.  Greg is releasing documentation to bring forth the truth.

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THE TRUTH:

 

Here is the timeline explaining the events concerning the Department of Justice civil action lawsuit: 

 

• April 17, 2014, Greg submits his Letter of Resignation to the SBA.

• April 28, 2014, Greg signs his completed Separation Checklist Form. 

• May 2, 2014, Greg’s official separation date per Government Separation Form, SF, 50, the same day his SF 78 is signed by a Colorado Administrator Officer. 

• August 5, 2015, fifteen months after leaving the SBA, Greg sends one email to his former boss, Matt Varilek, Chief Operating Office for SBA, regarding the Morreale Hotels loan. 

• November 9, 2015, Greg makes one phone call to Stan Nakano, and a second the following day, regarding the Morreale Hotels loan. 

• July 31, 2020, 4 years, 11 months, and 27 days after Greg’s separation from the SBA, the DOJ civil action lawsuit is filed, a mere 5 days before the 5-year statute of limitations is set to expire. 

• October 22, 2020, 2 months and 22 days later, a settlement is reached in the amount of $15,000 and the case is dismissed.

 

During the Colorado Republican Rumble held on Saturday, May 21, 2022, Heidi Ganahl, Greg’s Republican gubernatorial opponent, stated to Greg:  a “U.S. attorney prosecuted you for giving favors to friends. … I read pages and pages of details about meetings and calls and emails that you sent helping this person to try to protect a $1.7 million investment.”  Ms. Ganahl is incorrect.  Greg was not prosecuted as the case did not go to trial but instead a settlement was quickly reached.  Ms. Ganahl was also incorrect when she stated that she read “pages and pages of details about meetings and calls and emails.”  We are not sure what Ms. Ganahl was reading as there was only one email and two phone calls, and there were no meetings after Greg left SBA involved in the investigation.

 

The Conflict of Interest Investigation letter issued by Jasand Mock, an attorney in the office of the U.S. Department of Justice, under Jason R. Dunn (who is now endorsing Ms. Ganahl for governor), U.S. Attorney, District of Colorado, to Greg was on June 23, 2020.  This letter contains an image of the August 5, 2015 email Greg sent to Mr. Varilek, the email in question.  Additionally, two phone calls are referenced in the investigative letter, and these phone calls were to Stan Nakano.  These facts are in stark contrast to Ms. Ganahl’s comments of “pages and pages.”

 

The letter addressed “potential civil liability” for Greg of up to $55,000 for each violation occurring on or before November 2, 2015, and up to $102, 446 for each violation occurring after November 2, 2015, …”  The “up to $55,000” civil penalty was associated with the email to Mr. Varilek and “up to $102,446” was associated with the phone calls to Mr. Nakano.

 

Greg reached out to Mr. Varilek via email to see if Mr. Varilek could assist Colorado Lending Source in making a final decision on an approval.  Mr. Nakano received a phone call on or about November 9, 2015, and at the time was SBA’s Acting Regional Administrator for Region 8.  In the Complaint on page 8, point 38 states that Greg asked Mr. Nakano if “there was anything Mr. Nakano could do to help bring a resolution” to the Morreale Hotels matter.  Greg called Mr. Nakano again the following day at which time Mr. Nakano said he could not discuss the matter with Greg because Greg was not the borrower.  Two phone calls were made.  In the document In the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, Plaintiff’s Initial Disclosures Under F.R.C.P 26(a)(1), under the Subject(s) of Information column regarding Mike O’Donnell, Executive Director of Colorado Lending Source, it is stated that Greg had “personal and substantial participation in the Morreale Hotels debt restructuring.”  If you look closely at the dates in the column the timing was when Greg held his position at the SBA, and not after Greg left.   Greg was performing his duties as District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration Colorado District Office.

 

It is extremely important to note that Greg’s separation “checklist” was not completed properly by those who were involved when he left the SBA.  In fact, on May 26, 2015, almost two years after Greg had left the SBA, an Evaluation Report:  Improvement is needed in SBA’s Separation Controls and Procedures, was released by the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General.  It found that 54% of separation checklists were completed incorrectly.  The scope of the investigation was from October 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014, which included Greg’s separation date.  No one gave Greg his post-employment briefing.  Greg’s Separation Checklist does not have a signature nor any other indication that would signify that he did have his post-employment briefing.  This is noteworthy as this is where Greg would have received information regarding “conflict of interest prohibitions,” the charges made against him by the U.S. DOJ.

 

The lack of a post-employment briefing and a very weak case is what led the U.S. DOJ to a very quick settlement of $15,000; it only took 83 days to get this done and government does not act quickly.  Greg was counseled by his attorney, Michael J. Norton, TNS & Associates, LLC, to accept the settlement and move on with his life versus wasting his time, energy and money.  In fact, on page 1 of the Settlement Agreement, it states: “To avoid the delay, uncertainty, inconvenienced, and expense of protracted litigation of the Civil Action, and in consideration of the mutual promises and obligations of this Settlement Agreement, the Parties agree …”  This is what business people do.  Remember, Greg was in private industry when the investigation began.  There was no admission of guilt, as Ms. Ganahl and the media infer.  Greg has stated that the “United States could prove the facts alleged in the Complaint” because he did write the one email and made the two phone calls.  The emphasis is on “facts,” not guilt. 

 

Ms. Ganahl has stated she has read “pages” on this case regarding meetings, emails and phone calls.   Instead of falsely commenting that Greg was “prosecuted” we encourage Ms. Ganahl to tell the truth and state that as part of the settlement (page 3) it is written: “Upon receipt of the Settlement Payment described in Paragraph 1, above, the Parties shall promptly sign, and the United States shall file in the Civil Action a Joint Stipulation of Dismissal of the Civil Action pursuant to Rule 41 (a)(1).”

 

It is disappointing that Ms. Ganahl is attempting to use the SBA settlement for a political witch hunt to taint Greg’s character and to obfuscate his sincere commitment to business owners when serving as a District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration Colorado District Office.  We are also disappointed that the media and others attack candidates instead of reporting on issues and policies.

 

Colorado is broken because politicians and operatives, on both sides of the aisle, would rather tear other candidates down instead of focusing on the issues that Coloradans care about such as inflation, crime and the education of our kids.  Colorado is broken but we can fix this.  Vote for Greg Lopez as your next governor of Colorado.  Greg will focus on getting things done for the people of Colorado!

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THE DOCUMENTS: