Ex-Everett developer, convicted of fraud, back in business

BELLEVUE — Less than two years since his release from federal prison, disgraced Everett developer Lobsang Dargey has a new job at a new firm.

Dargey, previously convicted of defrauding investors, is working for Anandacom, a business that bills itself as one that’s “building eco-friendly communities through innovation” on its website.

Anandacom was formed in September 2019, according to records filed with the Washington Secretary of State’s Office.

Winston Lee, who also goes by Wei Li, was initially listed as the CEO, state records show. Lee founded Tallamond, a Redmond-based company that offers an “e-commerce platform” for aviation parts, according to its website.

According to online business directories, Brian Bergstrom is Anandacom’s current CEO. He’s a longtime employee of Synergy Construction, a company that Anandacom’s owners acquired from a Woodinville family at the end of last year.

Synergy Construction built one of Dargey’s first big projects, initially known as Potala Village, a former car lot that was converted into a 108-unit apartment building on Pacific Avenue in Everett.

According to a lawsuit that Dargey’s ex-wife recently filed against him, Anandacom’s owners include some of the Chinese investors Dargey deceived. The company’s members are Hua Han, Li Niu, Qiang Wang and Zhibin Ding, records show.

Anandacom recently closed on an $8.6 million sale of a Wenatchee development, Riverfront Village, a 454-unit apartment complex along the Columbia River. Commercial building permits for the project’s six buildings have been approved, according to Wenatchee’s planning and development department. As of last week, no one had picked them up.

Records show Dargey and Seattle-area developer David Cohanim were involved with the project. Cohanim is a longtime acquaintance of Dargey’s. He and his wife, Melissa Rivkin, owned a small English language school in Seattle’s University District that Dargey attended soon after he moved to the United States in 1997.

According to Anandacom’s website, the executive team’s “5o years of combined expertise” includes the development and management of a portfolio totaling more than $500 million, more than than 1,000 apartment units and 8 million square feet of commercial real estate.

The website features images of sleek complexes with shiny stone counter tops, polished wood paneling and minimalist designs.

A reverse Google image search indicates a few of the pictures are royalty-free stock photos. Others show a boutique hotel in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood and a luxury apartment building at the Port of Bellingham, both projects of Cohanim.

Anandacom’s logo has a design similar to the one Dargey once used for his companies — until U.S. District Court in Seattle handed them over to a receiver. In 2017, he admitted to diverting millions of dollars of investors’ money, much of it raised under a federal immigration program.

Rachel Riley: 425-339-3465; rriley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @rachel_m_riley.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Anandacom’s portfolio value. The story has been modified to correct the error.