A aron Wagner’s attorneys were busy last week. After gaining permission for a six-month delay of the federal trial of their client, who faces more than a dozen fraud charges, attorneys submitted a request for Wagner to travel to Scottsdale. Last year at this time, City Council foiled Wagner’s request for rezoning to allow “a swanky new dining experience” called Swags in the Entertainment District. Wagner, a part-time Scottsdale resident who also planned to launch a Bottled Blonde in Gilbert, was bottled up – behind bars – for two weeks before being released with a GPS monitoring device. On Oct. 24, the 42-year-old Wagner was arrested and booked into a Salt Lake City prison as a “federal detainee.” Wagner’s business partner Michael Mains was arrested two weeks later. Mains and Wagner face 16 charges of fraud and money laundering. According to a charge filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Wagner “devised a scheme to defraud private investors in restaurant businesses.” In the complaint, FBI Agent Brad Simons said he investigated Wagner and his various companies. Simons said he found the Wags Capital founder used $2 million from an investor intended for a restaurant venture to help purchase an $8.3 million airplane. According to the federal complaint, Wagner “would show off” his “lavish lifestyle (including personal jets, exotic vehicles, luxury vacations, etc.) to induce investors to believe that he was a successful businessman.” But, according to the court document, “many of these indicators of success were in fact financed by investor funds he had stolen from the very businesses they were meant to support.” Three weeks ago, U.S. Judge Ted Stewart granted a motion from Wagner defense attorneys Richard Van Wagoner to delay Wagner’s trial – originally scheduled for Feb. 3 – by at least six months. According to the defense attorneys’ motion to delay the trial, “The discovery for 16 counts of alleged white-collar crime and forfeiture of millions of dollars in property is voluminous with 68 alleged victims and witnesses and includes extensive financial records, electronic records including correspondence, and extensive summaries of interviews conducted by law enforcement.” The delay was needed, the attorneys said, as “The case involves many financial and business records concerning many individuals, entities, and transactions.” Federal prosecutors agreed a delay was needed – and, two weeks later, did not oppose a travel request filed by Wagner’s attorneys. Wagner requested court approval to travel from Utah “to visit with his mother in Mesa and sister in Scottsdale.” His plan was to depart Salt Lake City Feb. 6 and return today, Feb. 9.
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