Former Hines Property Manager is Sentenced to Two Years in Bilking Scheme

DENVER-A former Hines Interest LP property manager will be spending the next two years in a federal prison for bilking his employer out of more than $100,000.

Bob Cloud had been the manager of Downtown Denver’s “cash register” building, One Norwest Center. At his sentencing, Cloud told Denver US District Judge Richard Matsch that he has learned a lot in the two years of therapy since being accused of Federal crimes. “The amount of sorrow that I feel for my actions and the crime that I committed are great,” Cloud says, adding that the offense cost him his marriage.

Cloud has pleaded guilty to mail fraud and engaging in illegal monetary transactions. From September 1995 to October 1998, he conspired with at least four vendors to use fictitious invoices to charge Houston-based Hines for work that wasn’t done, according to court records. As property manager, he not only provided the fake invoices, but approved payment for and had signed Hines checks payable to the cooperating vendors. The vendors then would turn over the money to Cloud who laundered it through a Texas company owned by a friend, who would channel the money to Cloud. The bulk of the funds were been placed in Cloud’s personal bank account.

Cloud has cashed in $100,000 from his 40l(k) retirement account to repay part of the money due his employer. After his release, Cloud must repay Hines and its insurance company more than $69,000 in $500 monthly installments.