Ex-Bronco accused of bilking investors

James Paton, Rocky Mountain News

Thursday, April 27, 2006

William Leary's time in an orange jersey was fleeting. His face and No. 91 appear in a Denver Broncos team photo for 1983, John Elway's rookie season, though he failed to make the regular-season roster that year.

But he made it a big part of his résumé, playing the Broncos card to gain the trust of investors in Colorado, Florida and Illinois and to pull off a scam resulting in losses of $145,000, according to charges filed against him last week. An arrest warrant has been issued.

Bail has been set at $30,000, and Leary will face the charges in Jefferson County District Court.

Leary told investors his company, MTL Investments, would use their money to finance an indoor baseball and softball training facility for children in Arvada, according to the April 21 indictment.

In meetings with investors in late 2001, Leary also told them he would set up baseball camps across the country.

So why did investors hand over their money?

Leary told one woman he planned to take his company public and once that occurred she would receive "big" returns, the papers state. He boasted he had made "a lot of money for a lot of people" in previous business dealings, the papers show.

However, investors never saw the gains they had been promised, according to the documents.

Leary, of Golden, could not be reached for comment.

The indictment was announced Wednesday by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and state Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph.

Joseph said the case began with a tip to his office.

Leary failed to disclose to investors that he had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on behalf of his previous golf-school company, the indictment said.

The filing listed liabilities of more than $3 million and assets of less than $50,000.

An online bio shows Leary ran golf-related companies from the mid-1980s to 2001 and has an education degree from Mesa State College.

The site for a group calling itself the MVP Baseball Academy says he also played a year of football as a linebacker for the Denver Broncos.

A blurry photo on the team's Web site lists Leary beside a young Elway, running back Sammy Winder and linebacker Randy Gradishar. But his name could not be found in a media guide identifying players for that season.