Kevin Semcken at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show. (X)
A local entrepreneur says that he handed his three thirtysomething sons successful companies, more than $7 million in loans and a $900,000 line of credit only to watch them side with his ex-wife in a divorce, try to extort him and run their gifted businesses into the ground.
“Kevin Semcken is concerned about his sons and about the companies which he founded for them,” attorneys for that businessman wrote in an Oct. 24 lawsuit. “Although he has no desire to harm his sons, he must protect his financial situation, his credit and his business.”
Semcken, 66, made his money investing in medical technology, first through HealthTek Ventures out of Evergreen and then Able Planet, a hearing aid company. Before they divorced, he and his wife Mary owned the Villa Tramonta Rosa, or Mansion with the Rose Sunset, a six bedroom and six bathroom, 4,300-square-foot oceanfront estate in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Semcken also started two resellers, Certified Brands and Electronics Row, that rent space at 10601 N. I-70 Frontage Rd. in Wheat Ridge, a 100,000-square-foot warehouse that he paid $2.4 million for in 2012. He gave those businesses to Matt, Jackson and Dan Semcken, his sons, and borrowed against the warehouse to loan their companies many millions.
In exchange, the descendants were to keep their father on as CEO of the companies until they repaid the loans, Semcken says. They were also required to pay off the credit cards that he gave them at the end of each month and keep paying rent at his warehouse.
“But recently, the defendants determined that they disapproved of Kevin Semcken’s treatment of their mother in a divorce,” according to his lawsuit. “Consequently, they began exerting financial pressure to coerce him into bending to their demands regarding their mother.”
While those demands are not listed in the lawsuit, the sons’ alleged pressure tactics are.
Their father says that Matt, Jackson and Dan won’t pay $865,000 in credit card bills, won’t pay off the many loans that he made to their companies, have claimed they will no longer be paying rent at the Wheat Ridge warehouse, and have convinced an information technology firm to lock their dad out of Semcken.com, a domain he bought before his sons were born.
“(They) are defaulting on other loans to third parties, placing the existence and financial viability of the companies in jeopardy,” Semcken says of Certified Brands and Electronics Row.
Jackson Semcken (LinkedIn)
“Kevin Semcken’s loss of his right of control over the companies is irreparable,” his lawsuit goes on to say. “Without this control, not only will the companies likely fail due to unmet obligations to third parties, but also (Semcken) will not be repaid his loans to the defendants.”
So, he is suing his offspring for theft, unjust enrichment and breach of contract. He is also suing True North IT in Boulder for allegedly taking away his web domain, email address and access to accounting software. Semcken is asking Jefferson County District Court Judge Christopher Rhamey to restore him as CEO of Certified Brands and Electronics Row.
Requests for comment from those companies and the Semcken sons were not returned.
They and their parents have been involved in a handful of court cases in recent decades.
In the 2000s, Kevin and Mary Semcken made headlines for successfully leading opposition to Lost and Found, a Christian youth facility seeking to move near them in Evergreen. The dispute led to two settled court cases, including one in which Lost and Found sued for defamation after Kevin Semcken claimed it would bring “fire, death, blood and gore” to the foothills.
Kevin Semcken at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show. (X)
A local entrepreneur says that he handed his three thirtysomething sons successful companies, more than $7 million in loans and a $900,000 line of credit only to watch them side with his ex-wife in a divorce, try to extort him and run their gifted businesses into the ground.
“Kevin Semcken is concerned about his sons and about the companies which he founded for them,” attorneys for that businessman wrote in an Oct. 24 lawsuit. “Although he has no desire to harm his sons, he must protect his financial situation, his credit and his business.”
Semcken, 66, made his money investing in medical technology, first through HealthTek Ventures out of Evergreen and then Able Planet, a hearing aid company. Before they divorced, he and his wife Mary owned the Villa Tramonta Rosa, or Mansion with the Rose Sunset, a six bedroom and six bathroom, 4,300-square-foot oceanfront estate in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Semcken also started two resellers, Certified Brands and Electronics Row, that rent space at 10601 N. I-70 Frontage Rd. in Wheat Ridge, a 100,000-square-foot warehouse that he paid $2.4 million for in 2012. He gave those businesses to Matt, Jackson and Dan Semcken, his sons, and borrowed against the warehouse to loan their companies many millions.
In exchange, the descendants were to keep their father on as CEO of the companies until they repaid the loans, Semcken says. They were also required to pay off the credit cards that he gave them at the end of each month and keep paying rent at his warehouse.
“But recently, the defendants determined that they disapproved of Kevin Semcken’s treatment of their mother in a divorce,” according to his lawsuit. “Consequently, they began exerting financial pressure to coerce him into bending to their demands regarding their mother.”
While those demands are not listed in the lawsuit, the sons’ alleged pressure tactics are.
Their father says that Matt, Jackson and Dan won’t pay $865,000 in credit card bills, won’t pay off the many loans that he made to their companies, have claimed they will no longer be paying rent at the Wheat Ridge warehouse, and have convinced an information technology firm to lock their dad out of Semcken.com, a domain he bought before his sons were born.
“(They) are defaulting on other loans to third parties, placing the existence and financial viability of the companies in jeopardy,” Semcken says of Certified Brands and Electronics Row.
Jackson Semcken (LinkedIn)
“Kevin Semcken’s loss of his right of control over the companies is irreparable,” his lawsuit goes on to say. “Without this control, not only will the companies likely fail due to unmet obligations to third parties, but also (Semcken) will not be repaid his loans to the defendants.”
So, he is suing his offspring for theft, unjust enrichment and breach of contract. He is also suing True North IT in Boulder for allegedly taking away his web domain, email address and access to accounting software. Semcken is asking Jefferson County District Court Judge Christopher Rhamey to restore him as CEO of Certified Brands and Electronics Row.
Requests for comment from those companies and the Semcken sons were not returned.
They and their parents have been involved in a handful of court cases in recent decades.
In the 2000s, Kevin and Mary Semcken made headlines for successfully leading opposition to Lost and Found, a Christian youth facility seeking to move near them in Evergreen. The dispute led to two settled court cases, including one in which Lost and Found sued for defamation after Kevin Semcken claimed it would bring “fire, death, blood and gore” to the foothills.
