Noah’s Event Venue founder and 6 others indicted on wire fraud charges
Aug 29, 2023, 3:39 PM
A sign of a former Noah Event Venue in Utah. (KSL TV)
(KSL TV)
SALT LAKE CITY — The founder of the defunct Utah-based event company that left couples across the county without a wedding venue and thousands of dollars is facing federal charges.
On Monday, the United States Attorney’s Office District of Utah announced that William Bowser, 60, of Hendersonville, North Carolina, and six other co-conspirators were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.
According to court documents, Bowser and his co-conspirators worked together to engage in a nationwide scheme to defraud investors from January 2015 to May 2019.
“The victims, who were mostly retired and elderly individuals, were defrauded of more than $30,000,000 after being induced by the defendants to invest in Noah Event Centers,” the attorney’s office stated in a press release.
Utah event company closes, leaving couples scrambling for wedding venues
According to the attorney’s office, the Noah Event Centers were unprofitable and were sustained only by new investor funds.
The indictment alleges the seven defendants did not use the investor funds as promised and instead used the funds to develop unsustainable new event centers.
According to the attorney’s office, the defendants showed potential investors “glossy marketing materials showing pictures of beautifully constructed buildings and promising impressive long-term financial returns.”
Bowser and his co-conspirators are set to make their initial court appearance on Sept. 14, 2023, at 4:00 p.m.
The six other co-conspirators are:
- Christopher J. Ashby, 49, of Salt Lake County, Utah,
- Scott W. Beynon, 46, of Davis County, Utah,
- Jordan S. Nelson, 42, of Salt Lake County, Utah,
- Scott L. Rutherford, 51, of Utah County, Utah, and
- John D. Hamrick, 64, of Franconia, New Hampshire.
According to the attorney’s office, Hamrick is the Vice President and Director of Edmund and Wheeler Inc.
In February 2020, a Utah bankruptcy judge ordered Noah’s Event Venue to immediately cease all operations as the business declared bankruptcy in May 2019.
