Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Jeremy Johnson and Tim Lawson
Posted By Eric S. Peterson on February 8, 2011, 11:42 AM
An e-mail from Tim Lawson, lobbyist and friend to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, suggests that the company IWorks--whose CEO, Jeremy Johnson, was recently named in a civil complaint by the FTC--may have donated as much as $100,000 to Shurtleff in 2008.---
(Note: This post has been updated to reflect the nature of the complaint filed against Johnson by the FTC)
According to an e-mail City Weekly obtained through an open-records request, Tim Lawson, who is the subject of this week's cover story, purports to have brokered as much as $100,000 in campaign donations from IWorks representatives to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. Shurtleff’s financial disclosure reports from 2008 list only receiving $50,000 from IWorks. (The Utah Attorney General’s Office has not returned a response to an e-mail query sent last Friday, but this blog will be updated if they do.)
It’s difficult to determine which donors represent whom, but the context of an e-mail (see below) that Lawson sent to Shurtleff’s secretary suggests most, if not all of the $100,000 came from IWorks. In the Jan. 10, 2008 e-mail, Lawson indicates that Jeremy Johnson—the founder of IWorks who has been charged by the Federal Trade Commission with defrauding U.S. consumers out of $275 million—would not be at a January meeting with Shurtleff, but that he was sending a representative of the company to the meet.
“Ryan Poleman will be taking his place and he has a check for 25,” Lawson writes, adding that “with the 40 to 50k from Jeremy, 25k for Ryan and 25k from Name (???) That makes 100 total in additional funds, now lets see what we can really do after a goodnight (sic) sleep.”
Asked to comment about these donations, Lawson replied by e-mail: “NO COMMENT!!!”
Johnson (pictured above) was charged on Dec. 22, 2010 for using 61 business entities to have allegedly orchestrated a “massive internet scam” according to the FTC’s lawsuit. Consumers signed up for trial memberships in programs to acquire government grants or other money-making ventures. The consumers’ credit cards were then billed for services they allegedly never received. On Jan. 27, a federal court froze IWorks’ assets.
Johnson did not respond to a call for comment today, but this blog will be updated if he chooses to comment.
For City Weekly’s previous coverage of Johnson check out the “The $50,000 Question,” June 18, 2008, "Called into Question," April 8, 2009 and ”Ethical Questions,” March 10, 2010. See below for the full Jan. 10, 2008 e-mail between Lawson and Shurtleff's secretary.
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