The Iowa Insurance Commissioner has been acting as the receiver over Beckstone Partners, DesFined, the Corporate Leasing Company, and East King Management as a result of a July 8, 2024, order from Judge Vaudt in the Iowa District Court of Polk County. In the context of these companies, acting as receiver means trying to locate corporate records, take control of and preserve assets, and determine the liabilities of the companies to pay restitution to investors.
Beckstone Assets
As of June 16, 2025, the receivership has $533,728.81 in its bank accounts. This amount is a result of seizing several Beckstone bank accounts upon the establishment of the receivership, selling a pick-up truck owned by Beckstone, and selling two properties owned by Beckstone. Regarding the pick-up truck, the receivership received $12,800 after it seized and auctioned it off.
The Receiver has also taken possession of three pieces of property: a land tract in Jasper County Iowa, a land tract in Blackhawk County, Iowa, and a residential home in West Des Moines, IA on Buffalo Road. The land tracts in Jasper and Black Hawk counties are wooded lots that abut highways respectively. Mr. Immel purchased the land tracts in Blackhawk and Jasper County at auction with money from the sale of a home in West Des Moines on Woodland Ave. The Receiver has sold the Jasper County land for $7,300 and sold the Buffalo Road house in West Des Moines. The Buffalo Road house sold for $410,500, which was above the list price and resulted from receiving multiple offers. Additionally, as of June 19, the Receiver is auctioning off the third property, the Black Hawk County parcel.
When Mr. Immel sold the Woodland house in February 2024, he moved with his children to the Buffalo Road house. When the Division was appointed Receiver, he was ordered to leave. He did not. The Receiver eventually had to file a motion to show cause why he should not be held in contempt for failing to follow the court order to vacate the property and turn it over to us. After the motion was filed, he and his family left the property after several months of improper occupancy. There were considerable expenses involved in preserving the property while Mr. Immel lived there and in preparing the property for sale that have diminished the Receiver’ recovery.
Pennsylvania Litigation
One investment product Beckstone sold involved purchasing rental houses in Pennsylvania, with the stream of rental income flowing back to Beckstone, and ultimately investors. Those houses were owned by a Pennsylvania company called SPG Capital, LLC (SPG). SPG has filed suit against Beckstone alleging that Beckstone breached its obligation of good faith and fair dealing by reselling the homes to third-party investors. The SPG lawsuit seeks to retain title in the properties and accrued rental income from the properties, contrary to its contracts with Beckstone. Beckstone was unrepresented in this litigation for four months last year. The receiver has taken over the defense of the litigation. The receiver has also filed counterclaims. It is unclear how this litigation will resolve.
Publicly available documents related to this litigation are posted below.
Claims Process
The Receiver has posted a Proof of Claim form to its website. Entities that invested with Beckstone and desire to recover a portion of their investment should file a proof of claim. Based on these proofs of claim and the ultimate amount the Receiver is able to recover; the Receiver will propose a plan of recovery to the Polk County District Court. The Pennsylvania Litigation must resolve before such a proposal can be drafted. Claims may be submitted via the electronic proof of claim form or through the attached paper version.
Summary
We continue to investigate whether there are other defendants from whom we may be able to recover additional funds and are hopeful to increase the amount we are able to return to investors. However, given the Pennsylvania litigation, the Receiver believes that final resolution of claims by investors against Beckstone will require significantly more time to adjudicate. Ultimate recovery by investors remains uncertain.
Iowa District Court entered an order on March 3, 2025, tolling all statutes of limitations against the Defendants in the matter; therefore, any claims against the Defendants will remain pending the resolution of the Receivership. Again, the claim form may be submitted using the on-line Proof of Claim Form or you may print the attached pdf to make claims for restitution through the Receivership. The link for the proof of claim is also available in the related files below.
Please reach out to Sonya Sellmeyer at 515-654-6538 if you have any questions or concerns. Paper proof of claim forms may be mailed to Consumer Advocate, Iowa Insurance Division, 1963 Bell Ave, Suite 100, Des Moines, IA 50315.