Vermont

Prosecutors allege cover-up of multimillion-dollar fraud was motive for Vermont man’s murder

Published

on


Prosecutors say a California enterprise investor wished a Vermont man lifeless as a result of he feared the sufferer would go to the FBI with damning details about alleged fraud in a “multimillion-dollar oil deal” between them, in keeping with newly launched paperwork.

A courtroom submitting by federal prosecutors on Monday offers the primary look into the motive and connections between 4 males from three completely different states charged over the previous two months in what authorities have described as a murder-for-hire plot during which Gregory Davis, 49, of Danville was kidnapped and shot to loss of life in January 2018. 

Serhat Gumrukcu, 39, of Los Angeles and Berk Eratay, 35, of Las Vegas had been each arrested final week after being indicted by a federal grand jury in Vermont. The 2 males are every charged with conspiring to make use of interstate commerce services within the fee of the homicide scheme.

Federal prosecutors in Nevada, in a submitting that seeks to carry Eratay in custody whereas the case in opposition to him is pending, went into rather more element concerning the alleged plot and reported that one of many defendants had confessed.

Advertisement

Early within the investigation, the submitting said, Serhat Gumrukcu was recognized as a possible suspect within the homicide as a result of he and his brother, Murat Gumrukcu, had been the one individuals who appeared to have a dispute with Davis that “would probably be a motive for Davis’s execution.”

“In 2017, Davis was threatening the Gumrukcus about going to the FBI with proof that the Gumrukcus had been defrauding him in a multimillion-dollar oil deal that the Gumrukcus had entered into with Davis in early 2015,” in keeping with the doc signed by Assistant U.S. Lawyer Jacob Operskalski. 

“The Gumrukcus didn’t carry out on the deal,” the prosecutor mentioned. “Davis believed that the Gumrukcus had lied to him about varied issues.”

Additionally in 2017, the doc said, Serhat Gumrukcu was dealing with felony fraud expenses in California state courtroom, which included allegations of bounced checks that Serhat Gumrukcu had supplied to the “intermediary” within the oil deal. 

On these bounced checks, Serhat Gumrukcu reportedly falsely referred to himself as “HRH Serhat Gumrukcu,” a reference to “His Royal Highness.”

Advertisement

At that very same time, the submitting said, Serhat Gumrukcu was placing collectively what turned out to be a profitable deal after the homicide: securing a major possession stake in a California biotechnology firm, Enochian BioSciences. 

“Gumrukcu subsequently had a powerful motive to forestall Davis from reporting yet one more fraud, and sure threatening the Enochian deal,” Operskalski mentioned.  

Authorities mentioned Serhat Gumrukcu seems to personal greater than $100 million price of Enochian inventory. A few week earlier than his arrest earlier this month, prosecutors mentioned, he bought a few of his inventory for $2 million in money. 

“Neither Serhat nor Murat Gumrukcu had traveled to Vermont to personally kill Davis, so the almost certainly plot concerned a employed killer,” in keeping with the prosecution’s submitting.  

Murat Gumrukcu, who lives in Turkey, apparently visited america between December 2017 and March 2018, and was staying at Eratay’s former house in Las Vegas on the time of Davis’s killing.

Advertisement

The Gumrukcu brothers had been interviewed in early 2018 concerning the homicide and denied any involvement. Murat Gumrukcu has not returned to the U.S. since March 2018, in keeping with authorities.

Prosecutors mentioned the investigation then turned to attempting to establish the alleged hitman. In 2020, a break within the case got here when a Colorado man named Jerry Banks was recognized as a suspect, prosecutors mentioned.

Banks, 34, was arrested in Wyoming in April on a cost that he kidnapped Davis. Aron Lee Ethridge, 41, of Henderson, Nevada, was additionally detained on a cost that he conspired with Banks on the kidnapping.

Police say Banks took Davis from his residence on Jan. 6, 2018, by posing as a U.S. marshal who got here to arrest him on racketeering expenses. 

A day later, Davis was discovered lifeless in a snowbank in Barnet, 15 miles from his residence, shot within the head and torso. 

Advertisement

Investigators imagine Banks had been paid to kill Davis, since investigators couldn’t discover a private connection between the 2 males. To this point, no person has been charged with homicide within the killing of Davis.

The probe uncovered a sequence connecting the 4 males charged to date within the case: Banks was buddies with Ethridge, and Ethridge was buddies with Eratay, who labored for Gumrukcu, prosecutors mentioned.

A number of items of proof supported the hyperlink, comparable to Banks assembly with Ethridge on varied events in late 2017 because the homicide scheme was being finalized, authorities mentioned.

“Ethridge was the primary individual Banks telephoned after the homicide,” Operskalski wrote. “The primary name Ethridge made after receiving the post-murder name from Banks was to Eratay’s cellphone.”

Authorities say Ethridge has admitted to his function in Davis’s kidnapping and killing.

Advertisement

“Ethridge admitted that he employed Banks to kill Davis and that he was in flip employed by Eratay (his former neighbor and good friend for years) and Gumrukcu to seek out somebody to homicide Davis,” Operskalski wrote. 

“Ethridge’s admissions are extremely credible, as they’re per the opposite proof within the case,” the prosecutor mentioned, including that the federal government expects Ethridge to testify at trial in opposition to Banks, Eratay and Gumrukcu.

Monetary data for Eratay, whom authorities mentioned recognized himself as Gumrukcu’s assistant, confirmed greater than $150,000 in wire transfers from Turkish accounts Gumrukcu managed between June and October 2017, “because the homicide scheme was constructing,” prosecutors mentioned.

“Eratay fastidiously and secretly remodeled these funds into money on the identical time,” the courtroom submitting said. “Additional, Eratay’s electronic mail account confirmed that he documented private details about Davis in July 2017, together with his full title, date of beginning, homeland, and cellular phone with a Vermont space code.”

This story shall be up to date.

Advertisement

Keep on prime of all of Vermont’s felony justice information. Join right here to get a weekly electronic mail with all of VTDigger’s reporting on courts and crime.





Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Trending

Exit mobile version