Trepp accused of using company for personal expenses

A software developer whose allegations have fueled a federal investigation of Gov. Jim Gibbons said in a court filing Friday that his former partner, Warren Trepp, used their company for personal expenses such as private jet flights.

Lawyers for Dennis Montgomery were responding to a request earlier in the week by Trepp’s lawyers, who were seeking to keep the names of investors in eTreppid Inc. confidential.

The Reno-based defense technology company got millions of dollars in secret federal contracts with the help of Gibbons, then a congressman, after Trepp allegedly gave Gibbons cash and gifts.

Montgomery and Trepp are suing each other over ownership of technology developed by the company. A federal judge has been working with the parties to try to make parts of the case, which is currently sealed, public.

Montgomery’s lawyers state in Friday’s filing that the investors’ names must be disclosed because they could be privy to “Trepp’s fraudulent scam” or play a part in it.

“The evidence will show that Trepp washed his personal expenses through Etreppid, including his and his wife’s private jet flights, which is one of the reasons Mr. Montgomery and Trepp had a falling out; and then Trepp unlawfully tried to dilute Mr. Montgomery’s share of the company with alleged ‘investors,'” the court document states.

In a motion earlier this week, eTreppid’s lawyers asked the federal judge overseeing the case to black out some information contained in court documents for privacy reasons, such as social security numbers, telephone numbers and addresses. The company also requested redaction of “confidential information about the company’s investors” and its finances.

Montgomery’s motion Friday said that information consisted of “investor names and some investment amounts.” There is no legal basis for keeping such information secret simply to protect a corporation’s interests, the lawyers claim.

The motion contends that the public interest in the case due to Gibbons’ involvement makes it all the more important that information in the case not be held back.

Friday’s U.S. District Court filing also states that Trepp recently filed a new lawsuit against Montgomery in Washoe County District Court. Montgomery’s lawyers are seeking to move that suit, also over business practices, to federal court.