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How we traced the money
May 6, 2007
By Kevin Wack
More
Romney / Lichfield news ...
The only initial clue about the
origin of the RECAF contribution came from the address that was
reported to the state of Maine: 170 N. State St., La Verkin, Utah
84745.
In order to learn more, the
Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram sent a freelance
photographer to La Verkin, a community of about 4,000 people near
the Arizona border.
As it turns out, the entire 100
block of North State Street is occupied by a residential center for
troubled teenagers. The facility, known as Cross Creek Programs,
includes a colonnaded two-story building framed by a green lawn and
palm trees. Outside, there is no sign for RECAF Inc. and no evidence
of the 170 N. State St. address listed with the Maine contribution.
Entrances to the complex are marked
as 150 and 180 N. State St. In phone calls, Cross Creek employees
said they were unaware of a company called RECAF. "What kind of a
business is that?" replied a woman who identified herself as Pat
Gubler.
Kerry Gubler, who is listed as
Cross Creek's administrator, did not return phone messages seeking
comment.
But public records in two states
connect RECAF -- a company incorporated in Nevada, where records do
not show the origins of the firm's name -- and a 53-year-old Utah
businessman named Robert B. Lichfield.
During the 1990s, Lichfield was
listed as the registered agent for a Utah corporation called Cross
Creek Manor Inc., located at 180 N. State St. in La Verkin.
In addition, land records from the
Washington County recorder's office in Utah show that the North
State Street property is currently owned by the Robert Browning
Lichfield Family Limited Partnership.
Finally, business records from the
Nevada secretary of state's office show that Lichfield's wife,
Patricia P. Lichfield, was formerly listed as RECAF's president.
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