Suit Offers Theory on Va. Groups' Missing Funds

Jeffrey D. Barsky, the forensic accountant hired by the state real estate board, reported in July that $2.2 million in homeowner funds withdrawn from an account at BB&T bank between 2004 and 2006 were transferred to Jeffrey Koger or Tri-Fitness. Harris, the Tri-Fitness co-owner, has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Cappolla said that he saw the Kogers socially from time to time and that last year they began to talk about what Cappolla might do as a follow-up to Tapatinis, a cocktail bar he owns that is also on Eighth Street SE.

Cappolla said that Amber told him she wanted to invest in a restaurant because "she had a daughter and wanted to provide for her future." In December 2006, she acquired a 49 percent interest in JIC for "capital contributions in excess of $800,000," according to the suit. Under the terms of the agreement, she was guaranteed 80 percent of the profits until she made back her first $300,000; then her cut dropped to 49 percent.

Cappolla, 38, said he was aware of the allegations against Jeffrey Koger but was assured by the couple that they had no merit.

"When Jeff and Amber told me what was going on, they told me it was absolute garbage," he said. "They told me he was innocent of everything," Cappolla said. He said he was also assured that the money going into Jordan's 8 belonged to Amber Koger, not her husband. As if to underscore the difference, she did business with JIC as "Amber Lynn."

But the suit says Jeffrey Koger provided the money to JIC on Amber's behalf "through a series of cash and check payments."

After the restaurant opened, Cappolla said, his concerns began to grow. Jeffrey Koger, who had no experience in the restaurant business, wanted to "help out," Cappolla said, and started to spend large amounts of time on the premises.

In September, after Koger got into a dispute with a vendor, Cappolla asked him to leave. When he refused, Cappolla called the police.

In the ensuing argument, according to the suit, Koger told a D.C. police officer "that he personally paid for the development of Jordan's 8."

Cappolla consulted a lawyer, Wilbert Washington of Fairfax City. Washington said that as they began to discuss the situation, he realized that "Amber Lynn" was Jeffrey Koger's wife.

As it turned out, Washington also represents more than 70 condominium and homeowner associations that contracted with Koger Management and had lost money or were trying to figure out if they had. They include Oakton Woods Homeowners Association, the Ashburton Manor Homeowners Association, Rollingwood Condominium Unit Owners Association and Villages of Mount Vernon Homeowners Association.

Washington would not discuss clients' specific losses, but he said they ranged up to $90,000. Other homeowner and condominium groups that are not his clients, he said, have had losses in the six figures.