Ex-Market Manager's Escape Wasn't a Shock
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
By Wren Propp
Journal Staff Writer
They knew former Santa Fe Market manager Michael Soutar could easily slip from their grasp, state Securities Division officials said Tuesday.
Soutar, 46, was a flight risk, said Bruce Kohl, director of the division, which is part of the state Regulation and Licensing Department.
They only had 90 days— the time an Albuquerque judge decided Soutar should serve for two technical violations of his probation— before the man might disappear, Kohl said.
Less than 24 hours after Soutar was indicted by a Santa Fe grand jury last week, and without benefit of an official release from jail, that's exactly what he did.
Soutar's escape from a jail work detail in Downtown Albuquerque on Friday shocked them a bit, but after a few days to study it, they're not really surprised, said Kohl and Patrick McNertney, the division's assistant director of enforcement.
"He got notice on the grand jury eight days before; he got a target letter," McNertney said.
The grand jury brought a 22-count indictment accusing Soutar of securities fraud, sales of unregistered security, forgery, embezzlement, tax evasion, issuing worthless checks and racketeering stemming from his operation of the market, a small complex of arts and crafts galleries.
The indictment said he lured investors into giving him money for his Santa Fe International Development LLC, a company organized to sell art under the guise of Santa Fe Market. Investors gave to the tune of $125,000, according to the indictment.
Soutar was serving four years of probation at the time that he organized Santa Fe International Development LLC.
He had been convicted in 1996 of aggravated assault, fraud involving worthless checks, forgery, fraud over $250, embezzlement over $2,500 and fraudulent use of a credit card.
Soutar knew that the current criminal complaints were on their way, Kohl said.
"He knew the nature of the charges and knew what time he might serve in jail," said Kohl.
McNertney, under a special authorization by the attorney general, was successful in October in getting jail time for Soutar's probation violations.
Jail time for probation violations is rare, Kohl said.
On Friday afternoon, while Soutar was taking a lunch break under the supervision of officers from the Metropolitan Detention Center, a car pulled up, and he jumped in.
"I think we would have preferred that it hadn't happened. ... But as far as the corrections authorities knew, he was low risk and not subject to a close guard," Kohl said.
Several agencies in state government combined to pull the strings tight around Soutar before his escape.
The Corrections Department's Probation and Parole Division kicked off the investigation after fielding complaints that Soutar's business promises of high returns were empty, said Tia Bland, the department's spokeswoman.
"We did a lot of leg work, we turned in a lot that was the foundation for the case," Bland said.
Asked if the department did anything to prevent his activities, Bland said: "When you're conducting an investigation, you have to let the case pan out."
"I think we supervised him properly as we were doing our investigation and then turning it over to a department who could pursue it," she said.
Soutar's conditions of probation included a requirement that he get permission from his probation officer before "engaging in any major financial contract or debt."
Bland said in August, when Soutar was arrested on the probation violation allegations, that the department was aware of his employment and it had received some complaints about him.
The departments cited by Kohl for contributing to the case are the Santa Fe Police Department, the newly instituted Tax Fraud Division of the Tax and Revenue Department, the Attorney General's Office and the Regulation and Licensing Department.
"This is a prime example of the coordination that is absolutely essential in white-collar crime," Kohl said.
Meanwhile, on Monday, McNertney successfully sought a bench warrant of $150,000 cash-only bond if Soutar is taken into custody again.
He also received permission to extradite Soutar from anywhere, he said.
"He can be extradited if he's in Bali, Timbuktu, Mexico," he said. |
