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FORMER AIDE TO CAFESJIAN IS INDICTED
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
August 8, 2013 Thursday
METRO EDITION
by DAN BROWNING; STAFF WRITER, STAR TRIBUNE (Mpls.-St. Paul)
John Waters Jr. is accused of stealing millions from the retired West executive.
A former aide to retired West Publishing Co. executive Gerard Cafesjian
has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Minneapolis on charges
that he embezzled millions of dollars from his former employer over
more than a decade and did not report the money on his income tax
returns.
The indictment, which was handed up Monday and unsealed Wednesday,
charges John Waters Jr., of Eden Prairie, with four counts of mail
fraud, 16 counts of wire fraud, three counts of income tax evasion
and three counts of filing false tax returns.
Waters, 56, started working for Cafesjian in sales and marketing at
West Publishing in 1994. In a 2012 lawsuit, Waters said Cafesjian
reaped about $300 million on the sale of West Publishing in 1996
when it was acquired by Thomson Corp., now Thomson Reuters. Waters
left with Cafesjian to manage his considerable investments and
philanthropic activities.
Cafesjian, who now divides his time between Roseville and Naples,
Fla., is a patron of the arts and Armenian causes and the primary
benefactor of the historic State Fair carousel that bears his name
in St. Paul's Como Park.
Waters' suit alleged that Cafesjian stiffed him on $5 million
in deferred compensation. Cafesjian denied that and countersued,
alleging that Waters embezzled about $5 million from him.
The indictment, which largely mirrors Cafesjian's allegations, says
Waters had signatory authority over a number of Cafesjian's accounts.
It says that from 1999 into 2012, Waters transferred millions of
dollars from those accounts to other accounts that he controlled,
including one in the name of a deceased foreign exchange student.
Waters dummied up Cafesjian's books and records and tried to keep
others from reviewing them, the indictment says.
Prosecutors say that after Waters quit working for Cafesjian full time
in 2009, he tried to keep his former boss from reporting the dispute
to authorities and warned that harmful information would come out if
he did.
In his lawsuit, Waters suggested that he believed he could expose
embarrassing secrets about Cafesjian's private life, family and
financial practices.
Cafesjian countered that he'd done nothing wrong and accused Waters
of trying to "extort his way out of this by threatening scandalous
revelations."
Cafesjian's attorney in the civil case is Andrew Luger, who has been
recommended by U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken to replace B.
Todd Jones, the outgoing U.S. attorney in Minnesota. Luger declined
to comment on the indictment.
Dan Browning ·
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
August 8, 2013 Thursday
METRO EDITION
by DAN BROWNING; STAFF WRITER, STAR TRIBUNE (Mpls.-St. Paul)
John Waters Jr. is accused of stealing millions from the retired West executive.
A former aide to retired West Publishing Co. executive Gerard Cafesjian
has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Minneapolis on charges
that he embezzled millions of dollars from his former employer over
more than a decade and did not report the money on his income tax
returns.
The indictment, which was handed up Monday and unsealed Wednesday,
charges John Waters Jr., of Eden Prairie, with four counts of mail
fraud, 16 counts of wire fraud, three counts of income tax evasion
and three counts of filing false tax returns.
Waters, 56, started working for Cafesjian in sales and marketing at
West Publishing in 1994. In a 2012 lawsuit, Waters said Cafesjian
reaped about $300 million on the sale of West Publishing in 1996
when it was acquired by Thomson Corp., now Thomson Reuters. Waters
left with Cafesjian to manage his considerable investments and
philanthropic activities.
Cafesjian, who now divides his time between Roseville and Naples,
Fla., is a patron of the arts and Armenian causes and the primary
benefactor of the historic State Fair carousel that bears his name
in St. Paul's Como Park.
Waters' suit alleged that Cafesjian stiffed him on $5 million
in deferred compensation. Cafesjian denied that and countersued,
alleging that Waters embezzled about $5 million from him.
The indictment, which largely mirrors Cafesjian's allegations, says
Waters had signatory authority over a number of Cafesjian's accounts.
It says that from 1999 into 2012, Waters transferred millions of
dollars from those accounts to other accounts that he controlled,
including one in the name of a deceased foreign exchange student.
Waters dummied up Cafesjian's books and records and tried to keep
others from reviewing them, the indictment says.
Prosecutors say that after Waters quit working for Cafesjian full time
in 2009, he tried to keep his former boss from reporting the dispute
to authorities and warned that harmful information would come out if
he did.
In his lawsuit, Waters suggested that he believed he could expose
embarrassing secrets about Cafesjian's private life, family and
financial practices.
Cafesjian countered that he'd done nothing wrong and accused Waters
of trying to "extort his way out of this by threatening scandalous
revelations."
Cafesjian's attorney in the civil case is Andrew Luger, who has been
recommended by U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken to replace B.
Todd Jones, the outgoing U.S. attorney in Minnesota. Luger declined
to comment on the indictment.
Dan Browning ·