ECHO LAKE — Grey Lundberg cast a somber glance over the burnt ruins of the $2 million home he’d built on the Street of Dreams, the cul-de-sac of luxury homes destroyed two years ago by arson.
Days after the March 2008 fires, which investigators believe were sparked by eco-terrorists, Lundberg surveyed the charred foundation of the showcase home he’d named the Urban Lodge. Dressed smartly in a button-down shirt and slacks, he collected small souvenirs: bronze door fixtures, charred pieces of wood and twisted scraps of melted glass.
“It pains me to look at it,” Lundberg said at the time.
Just months before the arsons, state officials were ramping up an investigation into Lundberg’s business practices. For more than a year and a half, officials said, Lundberg collected sales tax but didn’t pass it along.
Lundberg now is accused of pocketing nearly $630,000 that should have gone to the state, according to charges filed Thursday in King County Superior Court.
“The people who paid him taxes on the jobs he did have an expectation it will come back,” said Mike Gowrylow, a spokesman for the state Department of Revenue.
Sales tax helps pay for local services including police, fire and schools.
“It’s not meant to line his pockets,” Gowrylow said.
The state attorney general on Thursday filed 13 first-degree theft charges against Lundberg, 48, of Bellevue.
If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and be ordered to pay restitution and fines. He is scheduled to be arraigned April 7 in King County Superior Court.
The theft charges do not implicate Lundberg in the Street of Dreams arsons.
State officials audited Lundberg’s business in January 2008. At that time, he began to file tax forms with the state but failed to turn over the money he owed, prosecutors allege.
From July 2006 through December 2008 Lundberg’s business took in about $8.1 million in revenue, prosecutors said. He failed to remit sales taxes of $629,291.76.
“It’s not his money,” Gowrylow said. “It’s the public’s money.”
Lundberg has been widely recognized in the local builder community and his work has earned awards.
U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., applauded the environmentally friendly and award-winning house Lundberg built on the Street of Dreams.
“I expect many future accolades for Grey Lundberg,” Reichert wrote in a July 25, 2008, letter posted on Lundberg’s Web site.
The March 3, 2008 fire appeared to be the work of eco-terrorists.
A banner with the initials “E.L.F.” was left at the fire scene, an apparent reference to the Earth Liberation Front.
FBI Special Agent Fred Gutt said Friday the arson case remains open and no one has been ruled out as a suspect. There still is strong indication the Street of Dreams fire was the work of eco-terrorists, he said.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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