By DAN TELVOCK
Jeffrey S. Koger's life was already in turmoil when he encountered police officers in Northern Virginia Saturday.
Estranged from his wife, the 38-year-old Herndon man has been the focus of an embezzlement investigation since February 2007 in his role as the chief financial officer of Koger Management Group.
On Jan. 28, a bankruptcy court judge ordered the sale of the company and its assets.
Five days later, Koger was wounded in a shootout with police near the Springfield Mall, Fairfax County police spokesman Don Gotthardt said.
Then Monday, Fairfax police implicated Koger in the wounding of two men outside the Franconia Police Department.
He is now under police custody in the intensive care unit at Inova Fairfax Hospital with a gunshot wound to his midsection.
Koger is charged with the attempted capital murder of a Virginia state trooper in the shootout that sent him to the hospital. No charges have been filed in the shooting at the police station.
The turn of events have shocked those who knew Koger as a "nice guy."
Neighbor Mark Mannello said Koger has been trying to sell his $900,000 home. Koger also recently shaved his head, but Mannello said he didn't know why.
"I am very surprised at what has happened," Mannello said.
"Ever since this embezzlement thing, he seemed a little distracted. I never asked him about it. I never confronted him about it. I didn't sense that he was going to go off the deep end."
KOGER'S LOCAL TIES
Koger Management Group helped manage about 350 homeowners associations, including two dozen in the Fredericksburg region.
About 200 HOAs, including at least a dozen from this area, have filed $10.3 million in claims against the company in bankruptcy court. Villas of Falls Run and Falls Run in Stafford County filed claims that total more than $1 million.
Last week, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen S. Mitchell ordered the sale of the company and its assets. The judge also allowed the HOAs in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to file claims in a D.C. Superior Court lawsuit against Koger's wife, Amber Lynn Koger.
Bankruptcy court records indicate that the $800,000 she used to start a posh steakhouse in southeast Washington, Jordan's 8, may have come from missing HOA funds. D.C. Superior Judge Lynn Leibovitz has discretion to allow the HOAs to file claims in a lawsuit filed by one of the restaurant's co-owners, Jordan Cappolla.
Cappolla did not return messages seeking comment. His attorney could not be reached, either.
'no end in sight'
Koger's problems appear to have started when he was named in a February 2007 Virginia Real Estate Board and Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation complaint as the "likely primary culprit for embezzling the funds" from HOAs.
The company has had a court monitor since then, and a court-ordered forensic auditor reported at least $2.2 million in missing money.
No one has been charged in the embezzlement investigation.
Shortly after the embezzlement investigation launched, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This allows a company to work with creditors to satisfy debts. But HOA officials are not optimistic about getting their money back.
"It is extremely frustrating," said Sherri Burke, the president of the Villas at Falls Run condominiums property association. "It really doesn't look like there is any end in sight."
Joe McDowell, president of the Manors at Greenridge in Stafford, said dealing with Koger management was difficult.
"Then finding out that they did go bankrupt, obviously we are a little distressed because we do feel they took money from us," he said. "The whole affair, it is not a pleasant thing."
A PAIR OF SHOOTINGS
Shortly before 3:30 a.m. Saturday, two men were shot in the Franconia police station parking lot. Each sustained wounds to their upper bodies, but survived.
Around the same time, according to a Fairfax police news release, a Virginia state trooper tried to stop a vehicle traveling west on Franconia Road near Fleet Drive. A pursuit ensued and the suspect's vehicle crashed near the Springfield Mall.
Fairfax County and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit police officers responded to help the trooper. The driver got out and pointed a shotgun at the officers, according to Fairfax police spokesman Gotthardt.
There was a brief exchange of gunfire and the driver was shot in the midsection. Police later identified him as Jeffrey Scott Koger.
None of the names of the officers involved has been released because of the pending investigation. The wounded men haven't been identified.
Police investigators have not determined a motive for the shooting outside the police station. The two victims were in separate cars, Gotthardt said. One was shot in his vehicle and the other outside his vehicle. Police have not determined why the men were there and if there is any relationship with Koger.
The two men remain hospitalized, as does Koger.
No police officers were injured, but shotgun pellets did pierce the boot of one transit officer and the left pant-leg of another, Gotthardt said.
"That's how lucky they were and how close they came to actually being hit," Gotthardt said.
Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com
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A list of some of the Fredericksburg-area homeowner associations that have filed claims against Koger over missing funds:
Villas of Falls Run, $517,667 Falls Run, $448,681 Lakeview of Culpeper, Salem Fields, $55,248 Raintree, $10,798 Ballantraye, $7,521 Manors at Greenridge, $6,536 Hamilton's Crossing, $5,175 Hunters Pond, $1,621 Regency Park Villas, $858 Cabin Creekwood, $354 Smoketree, $271 Coventry Creek, $1 * Potomac Village, $1 * * Claim amounts can change during the bankruptcy process, but HOAs had until Dec. 4 to file some amount to be included in the case. A total of 199 HOAs filed claims against Koger Management Group, which now operates as Tri-State Management. A judge has ordered the company sold. |