Va. man claims his innocence

Va. man claims his innocence

Failed Conch House bidder indicted again

By RICHARD PRIOR
richard.prior@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 03/27/09


A Virginia man who tried to buy St. Augustine's Conch House Marina Resort while he was under indictment, and later imprisoned, for fraud has been indicted again, this time on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Thomas E. Coghill Jr., who reportedly made millions over the years in real estate transactions, will be represented by a public defender at his April 9 arraignment in U.S. District Court, Lynchburg, Va.

"I don't have any money," said Coghill, a native of Richmond, Va., who now lives in Virginia Beach.

He sounded perplexed at the new indictments and insisted repeatedly that he has done nothing wrong.

"What I went to prison for, I did do," he said. "But I haven't done anything since.

"And I don't want to say anything to make (the prosecutor) mad any more. I just want to go on with my life."

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia indicted Coghill in November 2004 on a single charge of wire fraud. He was released on bond Dec. 4, 2004.

A grand jury issued another indictment in January 2005. That one included six fraud counts based on his real estate dealings in Virginia.

The U.S. Attorney who prosecuted Coghill reportedly said the defendant lied about building houses so he could get more bank loans.

The indictment also charged him with falsifying more than 30 certificates of occupancy, home inspections and surveys, according to a Charlottesville, Va., news magazine.

Coghill's 2005 bond was continued - with one provision. He had to get the approval of his probation officer before entering into any personal or business financial obligations, according to the newest indictment, filed March 12.

He was allowed to go to Florida to help his father, a general contractor, complete two homes, according to several reports.

While in St. Augustine, Coghill arranged to buy the Conch House Marina Resort on Comares Avenue from David M. Ponce Jr. and his family in December 2005.

Financial problems with the attempted purchase quickly developed. Those problems mounted until the Ponces had to file for bankruptcy. A New York bank filed a foreclosure suit on the property.

A federal judge in Jacksonville ruled in the Ponces' favor last December, giving the owners time to pay off their debts and get the property out of bankruptcy.

The most recent indictment against Coghill lists the Conch House deal and 15 other financial transactions Coghill is said to have conducted in and around St. Augustine between March and December 2005.

The defendant allegedly didn't notify his probation officer about those deals or any other transactions.

That failure makes up the obstruction of justice charge because it kept the court "from determining and imposing an appropriate sentence that would afford adequate deterrence, protect the public from further crimes of the defendant and provide restitution to victims. ...," according to the indictment.

The indictment also alleges that Coghill continued to conduct business while he was in prison.

In a phone conversation this week, Coghill focused on one of those 16 transactions, his former ownership of Coastal Condominiums in Vilano Beach, in denying he committed perjury.

He said he testified at his March 2006 sentencing for wire and bank fraud that he was not a partner in Coastal Condominiums.

"There was an operating agreement from Nov. 28, 2005," he said. "I resigned on that date.

"I was 100 percent accurate on the stand. It was not perjury."

He also denied obstructing justice.

"I got the maximum sentence you could get for the amount of money that was lost," Coghill said. "I was ordered to pay $3.9 million in restitution.

"I can't really understand how I obstructed anything."

Coghill was sentenced to prison in March 2006 and served his time at Forrest City Federal Correctional Complex in eastern Arkansas. He was released from prison in June 2008.

Don Melcher, who owns a screen printing and embroidery business in Charlottesville, Va., said he loaned money to Coghill to build and sell homes from 1991 to 1999.

"It worked fine, very smoothly, for about five to seven years," said Melcher. "Every time he'd sell a home I'd get money back."

Not only did the houses stop selling, Melcher said. But Coghill's asking prices were less than the cost of building the home.

"He overpaid for everything and undersold the homes," he said. "He was a terrible manager of his business."

Melcher said he began hearing that Coghill wasn't paying bills he owed. He learned of allegations of forged documents and reports.

Then Coghill allegedly defrauded Melcher and another lender on a deal.

Melcher eventually took his records and accusations to the FBI. They already had a file open.

"I lost a half million dollars -- pretty much everything I had," said Melcher. "It crushed me financially. I'm just now crawling out from under it all."

Melcher said that Coghill was paying restitution but not at a rate that would do him much good.

"I heard he was paying $200 a month in restitution," said Melcher. "I got a check this week for $33.

"A friend of mine figured out it'll take more than 1,000 years for him to finish paying me back."



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