I came across an interesting story recently about Brian Boquist, a conservative Oregon legislator who also runs a hot-zone aviation business and a military training range, both of which operate on variations of the name ICI, or International Charter, Inc. One of Boquist’s partners in ICI, a helicopter pilot, made some pretty startling allegations in a lawsuit filed in January:
The complaint was filed this Jan. 31 in U.S. District Court in Oregon by former ICI vice president and co-owner Danny O’Brien and his wife, Lorrie, who live in Lakewood, Wash. The lawsuit names Boquist; his wife, Peggy; and their business partner, Marcus Hines of Arizona, as defendants.
The complaint says Boquist forced the O’Briens out of the firm, ICI Wyoming, at the end of last year, following a disagreement over the direction of the company.
After Boquist forced the O’Briens out, the complaint says, the company’s bookkeeper resigned. The bookkeeper, lawsuit says, then provided the O’Briens with evidence that Boquist and his wife had been secretly diverting money from the firm to other projects, including a new company they had started in 2008 called Powder River Cartridge Company, LLC.
Through this new company, the complaint says, “the Boquists directed thousands of dollars of revenue generated by ICI Wyoming to their own use and without [the O’Briens’] knowledge or consent, including but not limited to political campaign contributions for causes supported or advocated by Defendant Brian Boquist, in his capacity as an Oregon State Senator.”
I followed up this news in another article for WW, which explained in greater detail how Boquist makes his money, but I never heard back from any of the plaintiffs. Nick R. Martin at Talking Points Memo also followed up, but succeeded only in obtaining a cryptic comment from Boquist’s wife.