The FBI has shut down its yearslong investigation into the murky, conflict-riddled deals involving a Utah Transit Authority commuter train station and related development in Draper.
No charges resulted aside from the bankruptcy fraud counts brought two years ago against politically connected developer Terry Diehl, a former UTA board member. And those were dismissed before trial.
But an investigative report produced by the Utah attorney general’s office before the case was handed off to the feds sheds some new light on key players in the tortuous development saga, not least of which was the relationship between Diehl and Greg Hughes, the former Utah House speaker and UTA chairman who is exploring a possible run for governor.
Here is a timeline of events about the project:
2000 • Greg Hughes and his business partner begin buying parcels along main TRAX line on 200 West, near the 900 So. station in Salt Lake CIty, seeing it as a big opportunity for profitable development.
Feb. 2006 • Hughes becomes a UTA board member.
Nov. 3, 2008 • Draper City Council approves an ordinance for development around the FrontRunner station that one council member described as containing “peculiar allowances” — such as no limits on building height or density.
Nov. 24, 2008 • The UTA board adopts the development agreement between Draper, UTA and Whitewater VII.
Dec. 10, 2008 • Terry Diehl, a UTA board member who is a consultant to Whitewater VII, takes over as company owner.
April 20, 2009 • A separate Diehl company, Wasatch Pacific, issues the first of three checks, totaling $350,000, to Urban Chase, a company run by Greg Hughes and partner Gary Nordhoff. Investigators have a copy of a voided check originally made out to Hughes personally from Whitewater VII that a whistleblower said Hughes asked to be reissued in his company’s name.
Dec. 7, 2009 • Urban Chase receives a third check, for $250,000, from Wasatch Pacific.
Dec. 17, 2009 • UTA pays $10 million to Draper Holdings for a 1,000-stall train station parking lot, for which there are no plans and no collateral, and which Draper Holdings never built. (Another developer did). Legislative auditors call this “very unusual” and “against UTA policy.”
Dec. 17, 2009 • Whitewater VII sells all its assets to Draper Holdings for $3.3 million.
Dec. 15, 2010 • A legislative audit concludes Diehl violated conflict of interest laws by using insider information about the station site.
April 2011 • Diehl pays $1,527 for airfare for a San Diego trip that a former associate says was for Hughes’ family.
May 26, 2011 • Diehl resigns from UTA board under pressure, but gets a special deal, pushed by Hughes, that waives the standard one-year ban on a former board member doing business with UTA.
Aug. 18, 2011 • The Utah Attorney General’s Office begins an investigation into the Draper FrontRunner development deal following a request from state Rep. Janice Fisher.
2013 • The Utah A.G. turns the investigation over to federal agents.
Aug. 26, 2014 • A second legislative audit slams UTA for sweetheart deals with developers.
Sept. 24, 2014 • Hughes steps down as UTA chairman and a few weeks later is elected as House speaker.
April 7, 2017 • One day after UTA signs an immunity deal with federal prosecutors, Terry Diehl is indicted on fraud charges related to alleged false claims on his 2012 bankruptcy. The case is dismissed a few months later after a judge throws out much of the prosecution’s evidence.
Oct 2019 • Utah Attorney General’s Office releases the investigation report after federal prosecutors close their investigation after the statute of limitations has expired.
Source: Investigative report of the Utah Attorney General’s Office, state legislative audits, 2010 and 2014.