Page 15 - Flathead Beacon // 5.25.16

NEWS
Forest Service Seeks Public Input on White sh Fuels Reduction Project Agency proposing timber harvest, prescribed burning in prominent watershed near White sh Mountain Resort
BY BEACON STAFF
The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public input on a strategy to thin a dense section of forested land east of White sh Mountain Resort, where wild re con- cerns have driven a collaborative e ort to reduce fuels in a watershed that includes the city’s primary drinking source.
The proposal, called the White- sh Municipal Fuels Reduction Proj- ect, would include thinning, prescribed burning and commercial timber harvest.
The project is located in the wild- land-urban interface approximately four miles northeast of White sh, within the municipal watershed that is the pri- mary source of water for city residents. Proposed activities include timber har- vest on approximately 260 acres of for- estlands and fuel treatments, primarily prescribed burning, on approximately 880 acres.
The potential for a large, destructive wild re in the watershed has driven con- cerns about the watershed for more than a decade, prompting Gov. Steve Bullock
The mountains north of White sh. BEACON FILE PHOTO
to designate it as a priority for treatment
through the 2014 Farm Bill.
Learn more about the Farm Bill
at http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/r1/ forest-grasslandhealth/insects-diseases.
A local group called the White sh Face Working Group met regularly last year to develop a plan for the watershed. The group includes residents as well as stakeholders from the timber industry
and recreation groups. The group pitched the fuels reduction project to the For- est Service earlier this year, including the timber harvest and prescribed burn proposals.
The area is adjacent to Haskill Basin, a 3,000-acre conservation easement that keeps the land permanently protected for water, wildlife and recreation uses, while still allowing sustainable timber man- agement to continue.
The Tally Lake Ranger District is accepting comments about the proposed action until June 17.
Comments can be mailed to 650 Wolfpack Way, Kalispell, MT 59901, attention Deb Bond, or emailed to com- ments-northern-flathead-tally-lake@ fs.fed.us and include “White sh Munic- ipal Watershed Fuel Reduction” in the subject line.
For more information about the proj- ect, visit, www.fs.usda.gov/projects/ flathead/landmanagement/projects, or contact Project Leader, Deb Bond at 406-758-5318.
news@ atheadbeacon.com
Columbia Falls Woman Implicated in $1.3 Million Ponzi Scheme State shuts down investment scheme that allegedly targeted at least 18 victims
BY TRISTAN SCOTT OF THE BEACON
A Flathead District Court Judge has issued an order freezing the investment accounts of a Columbia Falls woman whoauthoritiesbelieveorchestratedan illegal $1.3 million Ponzi scheme to bilk investors, siphoning some of the money from an alleged victim with mental and physical disabilities in order to carry out the lucrative scam.
On April 15, District Judge David Ort- ley issued the temporary restraining order against Catherine Ann “Cathy” Finberg, who attorneys from the Mon- tana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, State Auditor’s o ce began investigating after receiving reports from employees at a Kalispell bank about possible illegal activity.
The restraining order prevents Fin- berg from engaging in securities trading in Montana, and freezes her access to the bank accounts and trading rms she allegedly used to perpetrate the scheme.
The state’s investigation continues, and no criminal charges have yet been led, according to Jesse Laslovich, chief counsel for the Commissioner’s o ce. However, state attorneys determined that there was su cient evidence of ille- gal activities, and enough concern about further harm to investors if Finberg was
able to continue her conduct, that they sought the judge’s order to freeze her assets.
The order is meant to prevent Finberg, who has served as an assistant coach of theColumbiaFallsHighSchoolgirlsbas- ketball team, from liquidating assets and property interests obtained fraudulently, using investor funds, the attorneys wrote.
“Given Finberg’s recent and contin- ual activities involving these accounts, failure to freeze them could result in continuing, immediate, and irreparable injury to the investors by depriving them of sources from which to recover their investment funds,” according to an a - davit in support of the restraining order.
Attorneys with the Missoula law o ce of Datsopoulos MacDonald & Lind are representing Finberg in the case but did not o er comment on a potential defense.
A Ponzi scheme, or pyramid scheme, involves a person paying investors using money obtained from later investors, rather than from any pro ts earned.
The Montana Commissioner of Secu- rities and Insurance, State Auditor’s o ce regulates the securities industry in the state, and as a criminal justice agency is responsible for protecting residents from fraud and investment scams.
In seeking the restraining order, Laslovich included an a davit detailing
the probe into Finberg’s conduct. According to the a davit, Montana Deputy Securities Commissioner Lynne Egan, a forensics accountant, began investigating Finberg in February after Glacier Bank employees in Kalispell agged her accounts and tipped o fed- eral authorities about possible illegal
account activity.
During the course of the investiga-
tion, FBI Agent Shawn Hall learned that Finberg was acting as a securities bro- ker-dealer without being registered as such, soliciting money from people who believed she was investing it to their bene t. Under Montana law, anyone acting as a broker-dealer must be regis- tered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Hall reported that Finberg maintained an account at Interactive Brokers, LLC, a brokerage rm that provides investors access to securities trading technology and facilitates “day trading.”
According to account records, Finberg deposited approximately $1,002,000 into the account between January 2010 and January 2016, Egan reported. During the same period, Finberg withdrew $741,000 and placed them into her personal account at Glacier Bank in Montana, while incurring a market loss of more than $275,000 on her trading activities.
The a davit states that she “executed dozens of stock trades each day,” and records of Finberg’s personal checking account show numerous checks deposited with handwritten notations in the memo line,including“investment,”“daytrading investment” and “day trading.”
From January 2008 through March 24, 2016, Finberg obtained money from at least 18 individuals as investment proceeds.
“The aggregate amount of money received by Finberg for this purpose is approximately $1,294,300,” the a davit states.
One of the victims, identi ed in court documents only by initials, is a person with mental and physical disabilities for whom Finberg has some nancial respon- sibility, and who has power of attorney control of an inheritance account.
A comparison of money from inves- tors with money repaid to other inves- tors revealed that Finberg owes the 18 individual investors at least $997,302, according to the a davit.
A contested show of cause hearing in the matter is scheduled for May 25 in Flathead District Court, although two prior hearings have been continued while the temporary restraining order remains in full force and e ect.
tscott@ atheadbeacon.com
MAY 25, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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