Who's to blame?

While Blue Bear Funding faces a mountain of financial problems after losing about $20 million of investors' money, some naturally wonder who is to blame.

Some investors, smarting from a mortgage deal in which they lost thousands, believe there may be something beneath the Bear, specifically a man named Darin DeVoe.

Last November, several residents reported their continued trouble with DeVoe, formerly of Windsor, who they believe induced them into investing in his mortgage business, stole the equity from their houses, and left them with upside-down loans on homes with no renters. DeVoe's business, Home Owner Solutions, was supposed to find real estate for people to invest in, then manage the properties, forwarding to owners a small profit each month from rent checks. Many whose properties were mismanaged went into foreclosure because of the bad deals; others today continue to make two and three house payments.

So, when the Blue Bear program -- in which investors were promised handsome profits on investments in factoring companies -- went into bankruptcy, many felt they had seen this before. What's more, Blue Bear was initially DeVoe's concept.

"When it all started, Darin DeVoe was pushing and pushing and pushing (people) to open these (fatoring companies)," said Jeremy Rosenquist, who eventually started the now-failed Mountain States Factoring. "He was saying, 'You gotta do this, it will change your life, you'll be making $10,000 a month and be retired by the time you're 30.' He was doing this with everyone."

Problems occurred early with the investment partnership, however. Some say DeVoe was forced out by business partners Russell Disberger, a Fort Collins business consultant, and Steve Short, a friend of DeVoe's who had come into a bit of money. Others say DeVoe sat anonymous in the background.

Staruck, a former employee of DeVoe, said Short and Disberger didn't want a cloud hanging over them by putting DeVoe's name on the paperwork. He said there is no question in his mind that DeVoe is behind the missing money.

"I'm sure Darin was there," said Staruck, who lost almost $7,100 in Blue Bear.

Staruck reasons that David Karst, who was running Blue Bear in its two-year existence, had been operating factoring companies for nine years with no problems.

"This guy has been doing this for so long and all the sudden he screws up the accounting system?" Staruck asked.

Rosenquist, whose family won an $800,000 judgment against DeVoe recently, and a former friend of DeVoe, agreed. He said Blue Bear's mess is DeVoe's MO.

"You start talking to everyone, and it was Darin who set up their (factoring companies), who pushed them to do it, and they 100 percent agree," Rosenquist said. "Darin's name wasn't on anything, just as with all the other stuff. That's how he stays out of trouble. ... Darin didn't do anything for anyone. He would try to set up these companies for us to succeed. There was a motive there, and not just because he's a nice guy."

DeVoe's name is on a page-long list of potential defendants in a lawsuit Blue Bear is likely to file against those responsible for the loss of $20 million in investors' money. But he's one of several, and bankruptcy attorneys say that may not mean anything.

Karst, on the other hand, said DeVoe was in no way involved with Blue Bear other than creating the initial concept.

"He's underground and that in and of itself raises a lot of questions," Karst said. "He was supposed to be an owner of Blue Bear, but it never came to fruition."