Amazon, FBI, DOJ, and a Fabricated Multi-Million Dollar Kickback Scheme: How Lies Almost Destroyed a Self-Made Man

Denver, Colorado – Watson, and his 24-year-old real estate investment company Northstar Commercial Partners, are now fighting back with a federal lawsuit against a former employee believed to have lied to get an Amazon payout and a job in exchange for inflammatory, proof-free information about Watson and his company.

A lawsuit filed this month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (Case No. 1:24-cv-02606) accuses Northstar’s former employee Daniel C. Mulcahy of allegedly making false claims of an illegal kickback scheme. The lawsuit alleges Mulcahy sent an email to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in December 2019 accusing Northstar of paying as much as $50 million in kickbacks to Amazon employees to win data center development and ownership contracts.

According to the complaint, Mulcahy admitted he had no evidence to support his allegations and was only acting on “assumption and hearsay.” The lawsuit says Mulcahy’s emails to Bezos asked for a job, repeatedly pushed for compensation in exchange for the information and that Mulcahy was worried he’d be found out, attempting to arrange a non-disclosure agreement.

The lawsuit details that Mulcahy’s leadership job at Northstar gave him access to all the documents involving the company’s business with Amazon, which included the development of 9 data center projects in Virginia, the contracts obtained through a highly competitive bidding process. However, at no point during his employment did Mulcahy sound the alarm, and in fact it seems that Mulcahy helped to draft the referral agreement associated with the projects. According to the complaint, Mulcahy left Northstar on good terms and only months later sent Amazon the inflammatory email that fueled a damaging, traumatic and incredibly costly firestorm of events for Watson and many others.

The FBI raided Watson’s home in April 2020, and he was told that he could be criminally indicted. Northstar’s largest equity investor in the data center projects immediately terminated the company’s involvement within hours of the FBI raid, resulting in over $73 million in lost compensation. Amazon also filed a civil RICO lawsuit against Northstar based partly on Mulcahy’s claims, and a court-appointed receiver that Amazon selected and requested, took over management of Watson’s assets, including Northstar, the company he founded, at a cost of up to $450,000 per month.

In 2024, federal prosecutors dropped the criminal investigation that Amazon lobbied for, and in an historic judicial moment, vacated guilty pleas as “not being in the best interests of justice”. Last year, the  court also granted summary judgment against 7 of Amazon’s 8 claims, as not being worthy to go to trial. Amazon has appealed this decision. According to the lawsuit, Mulcahy admitted in a deposition, “I didn’t have any true evidence” before making the allegations against Northstar.

The lawsuit says that Mulcahy breached his employment contract with Northstar by secretly starting his own competing businesses, Dacia Capital Management and USA Camping Company, which own eleven RV parks throughout the U.S., including Oregon, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida. It is alleged that Mulcahy did this while still working for Northstar, stealing the company’s  investors, clients, information and employees. It also alleges Mulcahy may have initiated an SEC investigation into Northstar, as he may have wanted to collect money from the SEC as he requested of Amazon, further compounding the legal and financial troubles faced by Watson and his company.

The complaint alleges Mulcahy’s actions destroyed Watson’s reputation and caused tens of millions in losses through destruction of business opportunities, assets, and emotional distress. It accuses Mulcahy of breach of contract, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Watson and Northstar have stated over $2 billion dollars in damages, plus additional amounts as the court may award.

Watson is being represented by Nicole A. Westbrook of Jones & Keller, P.C. in Denver, CO. Counsel for other parties is not known at this time.

CASE INFORMATION

The United States District Court For the District of Colorado
Brian Watson, an individual; and W.D.C. Holdings LLC d/b/a Northstar Commercial Partners, a Colorado limited liability company v. Daniel C. Mulcahy, an individual; Dacia Capital Management LLC, a Nevada Limited Liability Company; and USA Camping Company f/k/a Dacia Hospitality d/b/a Dacia Resort Group a Nevada Company
Case No. 1:24-cv-02606