An Amazon data center in Loudon County in northern Virginia. (Google Street View)
In August 2022, Denver developer Brian Watson was two years into fighting a lawsuit brought by Amazon in Virginia when he faced a new legal problem.
That month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused him and his firm Northstar Commercial Partners of securities fraud.
The agency alleged Watson gave misleading information to investors on 10 different deals his firm did, from redeveloping a Lakewood office building and building new warehouse space in Broomfield.
The 10 deals didn’t include Watson’s development of data centers in northern Virginia for Amazon, which has accused Watson of paying kickbacks to Amazon employees to help land them.
But late last month, Watson alleged that the SEC investigation did have a connection to Amazon after all. In a new lawsuit filed against the Seattle-based tech giant, he accuses the company of initiating the SEC investigation in April 2020.
“The day after Amazon initially filed its lawsuit in Virginia against Northstar and Watson, Amazon coordinated a contact between the (Department of Justice) (and the SEC) in Denver… The SEC commenced an investigation, even though the SEC had reviewed Northstar a few months prior without any legally actionable items found,” Watson’s lawsuit states.
Brian Watson
Watson’s lawsuit against Amazon was filed in federal court in Colorado on Dec. 23. It puts him on the offense on his home turf after years of playing defense against Amazon in Virginia. And it includes new allegations about how Amazon pressured government agencies to go after Watson.
Watson accuses Amazon of “an improper, coordinated, anti-competitive conspiracy” to cut him out of the data center deals after company founder Jeff Bezos received an email in December 2019 from Danny Mulcahy, a former Northstar employee. Mulcahy’s email said Northstar had paid kickbacks to two Amazon employees, Carl Nelson and Casey Kirschner.
Watson has acknowledged paying Casey’s brother Christian Kirschner, who introduced the two, as part of a standard referral arrangement. Watson has said he was unaware that much of those funds were then passed on to Casey Kirschner and Nelson.
Watson’s lawsuit alleges Amazon “apparently did no investigation whatsoever” into the validity of Mulcahy’s claim before acting on it.
Amazon’s response was aggressive and took advantage of the company’s close connections with government agencies.
The Department of Justice commenced a criminal investigation into the matter in early April 2020. It burst into public view when the FBI served a search warrant at Watson’s Cherry Hills Village mansion.
“Amazon had over 100 meetings, 300 phone calls, and countless emails directing the DOJ and evidencing receipt of benefits to Amazon from the DOJ’s efforts,” Watson’s lawsuit states. “The DOJ would never meet with Mr. Watson, Northstar, or their counsel, except on a limited basis.”
Watson argues prosecutors were receptive to Amazon’s requests because it “is a major business partner of the federal government and spends massive sums supporting the federal government’s data center needs,” and because the company and its law firm hire former government officials.
“We believe that that’s very unusual. We believe there are very few entities that the DOJ would listen to,” said attorney Nicole Westbrook of Jones & Keller, who is representing Watson.
Amazon sued Watson later that month, on April 27, 2020. Then, according to Watson, came the company’s suggestion that the SEC should investigate Watson as well. The motivation? An SEC investigation would eat up funds that Watson could otherwise use to defend himself against Amazon’s lawsuit and it would further discredit Watson, he claimed.
Watson has denied wrongdoing in the SEC case, which is still pending.
His lawsuit against Amazon makes 16 claims against the company, from racketeering to malicious prosecution to antitrust violations and defamation. It indicates he’s owed at least $6 billion — triple his estimated economic damages of $2 billion, as allowed under federal antitrust law.
“These claims are baseless and false, and we look forward to proving that through the legal process,” Amazon spokeswoman Montana MacLachlan told BusinessDen.
Amazon’s civil litigation against Watson is still pending. A judge dismissed the bulk of the company’s claims against Watson in spring 2023, but Amazon has appealed that decision, and the judge did not weigh in on the central question of whether Watson knowingly paid kickbacks. Westbrook declined to discuss the timing of the lawsuit.
The federal criminal investigation has ended. Watson was never charged, and the government vacated guilty pleas it procured from others.
“I worked very hard to build my company up from nothing for almost 20 years, and it has been heartbreaking to see how a $2.3 trillion company can manipulate and control the legal system and governmental agencies in America,” Watson said in a statement. “I have never been a litigious person prior to Amazon’s attacks, but someone has to hold such corporate behemoths accountable, or they will continue to destroy others.”
Watson’s latest lawsuit is the fourth he has filed locally since August.
In August, Watson sued a fellow homeowner at Grand County’s C Lazy U Ranch, accusing the woman of defamation for allegedly calling Watson a “criminal” and saying he slept with prostitutes. In September, Watson sued Mulchay, his former employee who emailed Bezos. And in October, Watson sued IPI Partners, the firm that helped finance the Amazon data center deals, saying the company played a key role pressuring Amazon to go after Watson.
An Amazon data center in Loudon County in northern Virginia. (Google Street View)
In August 2022, Denver developer Brian Watson was two years into fighting a lawsuit brought by Amazon in Virginia when he faced a new legal problem.
That month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused him and his firm Northstar Commercial Partners of securities fraud.
The agency alleged Watson gave misleading information to investors on 10 different deals his firm did, from redeveloping a Lakewood office building and building new warehouse space in Broomfield.
The 10 deals didn’t include Watson’s development of data centers in northern Virginia for Amazon, which has accused Watson of paying kickbacks to Amazon employees to help land them.
But late last month, Watson alleged that the SEC investigation did have a connection to Amazon after all. In a new lawsuit filed against the Seattle-based tech giant, he accuses the company of initiating the SEC investigation in April 2020.
“The day after Amazon initially filed its lawsuit in Virginia against Northstar and Watson, Amazon coordinated a contact between the (Department of Justice) (and the SEC) in Denver… The SEC commenced an investigation, even though the SEC had reviewed Northstar a few months prior without any legally actionable items found,” Watson’s lawsuit states.
Brian Watson
Watson’s lawsuit against Amazon was filed in federal court in Colorado on Dec. 23. It puts him on the offense on his home turf after years of playing defense against Amazon in Virginia. And it includes new allegations about how Amazon pressured government agencies to go after Watson.
Watson accuses Amazon of “an improper, coordinated, anti-competitive conspiracy” to cut him out of the data center deals after company founder Jeff Bezos received an email in December 2019 from Danny Mulcahy, a former Northstar employee. Mulcahy’s email said Northstar had paid kickbacks to two Amazon employees, Carl Nelson and Casey Kirschner.
Watson has acknowledged paying Casey’s brother Christian Kirschner, who introduced the two, as part of a standard referral arrangement. Watson has said he was unaware that much of those funds were then passed on to Casey Kirschner and Nelson.
Watson’s lawsuit alleges Amazon “apparently did no investigation whatsoever” into the validity of Mulcahy’s claim before acting on it.
Amazon’s response was aggressive and took advantage of the company’s close connections with government agencies.
The Department of Justice commenced a criminal investigation into the matter in early April 2020. It burst into public view when the FBI served a search warrant at Watson’s Cherry Hills Village mansion.
“Amazon had over 100 meetings, 300 phone calls, and countless emails directing the DOJ and evidencing receipt of benefits to Amazon from the DOJ’s efforts,” Watson’s lawsuit states. “The DOJ would never meet with Mr. Watson, Northstar, or their counsel, except on a limited basis.”
Watson argues prosecutors were receptive to Amazon’s requests because it “is a major business partner of the federal government and spends massive sums supporting the federal government’s data center needs,” and because the company and its law firm hire former government officials.
“We believe that that’s very unusual. We believe there are very few entities that the DOJ would listen to,” said attorney Nicole Westbrook of Jones & Keller, who is representing Watson.
Amazon sued Watson later that month, on April 27, 2020. Then, according to Watson, came the company’s suggestion that the SEC should investigate Watson as well. The motivation? An SEC investigation would eat up funds that Watson could otherwise use to defend himself against Amazon’s lawsuit and it would further discredit Watson, he claimed.
Watson has denied wrongdoing in the SEC case, which is still pending.
His lawsuit against Amazon makes 16 claims against the company, from racketeering to malicious prosecution to antitrust violations and defamation. It indicates he’s owed at least $6 billion — triple his estimated economic damages of $2 billion, as allowed under federal antitrust law.
“These claims are baseless and false, and we look forward to proving that through the legal process,” Amazon spokeswoman Montana MacLachlan told BusinessDen.
Amazon’s civil litigation against Watson is still pending. A judge dismissed the bulk of the company’s claims against Watson in spring 2023, but Amazon has appealed that decision, and the judge did not weigh in on the central question of whether Watson knowingly paid kickbacks. Westbrook declined to discuss the timing of the lawsuit.
The federal criminal investigation has ended. Watson was never charged, and the government vacated guilty pleas it procured from others.
“I worked very hard to build my company up from nothing for almost 20 years, and it has been heartbreaking to see how a $2.3 trillion company can manipulate and control the legal system and governmental agencies in America,” Watson said in a statement. “I have never been a litigious person prior to Amazon’s attacks, but someone has to hold such corporate behemoths accountable, or they will continue to destroy others.”
Watson’s latest lawsuit is the fourth he has filed locally since August.
In August, Watson sued a fellow homeowner at Grand County’s C Lazy U Ranch, accusing the woman of defamation for allegedly calling Watson a “criminal” and saying he slept with prostitutes. In September, Watson sued Mulchay, his former employee who emailed Bezos. And in October, Watson sued IPI Partners, the firm that helped finance the Amazon data center deals, saying the company played a key role pressuring Amazon to go after Watson.
