Posted on 10/06/2006 8:04:33 PM PDT by calcowgirl
NORTH COUNTY ---- What may be his last contract with the federal government has run out. Most of his employees have quit or been laid off. He owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in back property taxes on his company's multimilllion-dollar Poway headquarters, a 97,000-square-foot building he is negotiating to sell.
And in the latest blow to defense contractor Brent Wilkes ---- one of the men identified as an alleged co-conspirator of Randy "Duke" Cunningham in the bribery scandal that put the former congressman in prison ---- the Poway resident is being sued by two companies accusing him of breach of contract.
No charges have been filed against Wilkes, and his lawyers have adamantly declared his innocence of any wrongdoing.
Court records show that on Sept. 15, two finance companies filed lawsuits against Wilkes and several of the companies he owns or controls.
One of the finance companies, De Lage Landen Financial Services, filed suit in San Diego alleging that Wilkes had failed to pay about $240,000 in back rental fees for office furniture.
On the same day the De Lage Landen lawsuit was filed, Merrill Lynch Business Financial Services Inc. filed suit in Vista against Wilkes and several companies he owns.
Wilkes' attorney, Michael Lipman, said he could not comment on the lawsuits because Wilkes has not been served with the paperwork.
"We're not going to speculate on something we haven't seen," he said in a phone interview.
The Merrill Lynch lawsuit alleges that Wilkes failed to pay $642,000 in loans he received from the company.
Attorneys representing the two firms suing Wilkes and his companies could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The lawsuits are only the latest problems for Wilkes.
When Cunningham pleaded guilty late last year to his role in a massive bribery scheme, court documents identified four unnamed co-conspirators, two of whom had allegedly provided Cunningham with more than $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for his help in steering tens of millions in government contracts to their companies.
Sources close to the investigation identified Wilkes as one of those co-conspirators, something that one of his attorneys acknowledged to reporters in the weeks following Cunningham's March sentencing. The former North County lawmaker got eight years, four months in custody and is now in a federal prison in North Carolina.
The investigation into Cunningham's web of corruption continues.
In August 2005, agents with the FBI, the Pentagon's Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the IRS raided Wilkes' Poway home and the offices of Poway defense firm ADCS Inc., in connection with the Cunningham investigation. Wilkes owns ADCS.
In December, a short time after sources identified Wilkes as co-conspirator No. 1 in the Cunningham case, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's staff asked Wilkes to resign from the Del Mar Fair Board, a position he had been appointed to by the governor after donating nearly $80,000 to his campaign.
After the scandal broke, Schwarzenegger gave the money to San Diego County charities.
In May, what is believed to be ADCS' last remaining federal contract expired. By that month, the company's headquarters building in Poway was on the market, as Wilkes' property tax bill on the property continued to grow. And as of Thursday, the bill had mushroomed to $321,731, according to county Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister.
Lipman said the scandal surrounding Cunningham has been "very difficult" financially for Wilkes.
"It has taken a toll on the business," Lipman said. "He is attempting to keep things afloat and move forward."
The Poway Unified School District's board of trustees has given administrators approval to negotiate a land swap with a developer, who would then buy the ADCS building for an undisclosed price and lease it to the district.
PUSD to pursue land swap
By: ANDREA MOSS - Staff Writer
North County Times, September 28, 2006POWAY ---- The Poway Unified School District's Board of Trustees gave school officials approval Thursday to negotiate a land swap that could leave the district owning a high-end and high-profile building in the South Poway Business Park.
The building is 97,000 square feet and owned by defense contractor ADCS Inc. The company is a subsidiary of Al Dust Properties LLC, owned by Poway resident Brent Wilkes.
Wilkes has been tied to a contracts-for-bribes scandal involving former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who is now in prison.
School officials have had their eye on the ADCS building for several months. The board held a special meeting Thursday morning at the district's Twin Peaks Road office to discuss Santa Barbara-based developer Will Gustafson's proposed land exchange.
The trustees ended up voting 4-0, with board member Linda Vanderveen absent, in favor of pursuing a formal agreement with the developer.
If negotiations are successful, Poway Unified would give Gustafson 10 acres that the district owns on Avenida Venusto in Rancho Bernardo.
The developer would buy the ADCS building ---- at 13970 Stowe Drive ---- and lease it to the district for a new headquarters. Poway Unified would end up owning the building if and when Gustafson receives the city of San Diego's approval to build a condominium complex on the Rancho Bernardo property.
Some might question whether the ADCS building is too grandiose for a public entity's offices. A glass-front, two-story building with a massive circular driveway that wraps around a water fountain outside and a large, high-tech conference center inside, the property is being marketed at a price of $26 million to $28 million.
Superintendent Don Phillips said district officials and Gustafson expect to acquire the building for a price well below market value because of Wilkes' legal situation.
He is being investigated by the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego for his ties to Cunningham. The former 50th Congressional District Republican lawmaker is serving more than eight years after pleading guilty late last year to bribery and tax evasion.
As of July, Wilkes also owed more than $300,000 in back taxes and penalties on the Stowe Drive property.
Phillips and Mike Moser, a real estate broker who is representing Gustafson, said Wilkes would be required to pay any outstanding amounts on the property before escrow closes on any sale, if one occurs.
The superintendent also said that Poway Unified will reap substantial benefits if the proposed trade becomes a reality. Acquiring a new headquarters with little or no financial outlay topped a list of examples he gave.
(snip)
Man, the Libs are working Overtime to get the names CUNNINGHAM and ABRAMOFF in the news during this election cycle.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
My guess is his co-conspirators are looking for a replacement.
This guy couldn't even run a viable business and get contracts without Cunningham.
This is the second company I have read about tonight going broke after losing government contracts.
Corporate welfare at its' best.
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