Nantucket Current | Fugitive investor from Aspen arrested on Nantucket…

Fugitive Aspen investor Daniel Burrell was arrested on Nantucket late Friday morning on a warrant from Las Vegas, where he is accused of writing a bad check for $1.5 million to a casino just one day after his island mansion was sold at a foreclosure auction.

The Yale-educated businessman was wanted by law enforcement in Colorado and Nevada and was eventually caught by the law on Nantucket.

Burrell already had arrest warrants out of Pitkin County, Colorado, for allegedly failing to repay more than $75 million in bank loans that he used to pay off divorce settlements, buy a yacht and buy luxury properties. One of those homes, located at 3 Brewster Road on Nantucket, was sold at a foreclosure auction on Thursday for $12,525,000.

A day later, Burrell stood in handcuffs and leg irons outside Nantucket District Court, calling relatives and asking them to bring a $10,000 check to the Town & County Building on Broad Street so he could post bail.

According to Pitkin County court records in Colorado, Burrell had been scheduled for a court hearing earlier this year initiated by the Equilibrium Multi Strategy Fund. The fund was seeking to recover $8.8 million owed by Burrell from two different limited liability companies he controls. After Burrell failed to appear in court, Judge John Neiley requested a warrant for his arrest on May 13, and weeks later, Burrell's Aspen mansion was sold during an online foreclosure auction.

Burrell founded the Burrell Group, LLC, which, according to the company's LinkedIn page, is “a portfolio of individual, privately held companies focused on drug education, behavioral sciences, financial services, commercial and residential real estate, construction, aviation, food supply programs in partnership with public and private universities, safety and lifesaving systems, and medical technology and natural resources.”

Officials of the Colorado court told the Current Earlier this week, it was announced that the arrest warrant for Burrell had been lifted in late July. However, a warrant from Las Vegas remained in effect and Burrell was arrested by island police and arraigned in Nantucket District Court on Friday on charges of being a fugitive from justice.

Andrew Fritz, Burrell's Nevada attorney, joined the hearing by phone and told Nantucket Judge James M. Sullivan that the Las Vegas warrant stemmed from a bad check allegedly made out to a casino. He revealed that Burrell owes about $1.5 million in the case.

“It is my understanding that he was arrested today on a Nevada warrant for owing money to a casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is believed to be on these casino markings,” Fritz said.

Fritz said the case has been assigned to Las Vegas Justice Court and he will represent Burrell in court either Monday or Tuesday. He said before the arrest on Friday, he asked the court to lift the warrant, but they said they needed a “good faith payment to get things going” and he suggested $50,000. He said the court did not reject the offer, but simply reiterated that they would not lift the warrant until they had a “good, sure payment of some kind.”

Burrell's bail was set at $10,000. He asked Sullivan if he could post the bail by check instead of cash since “it's 10 past four and the banks are closed.” Sullivan said they would accept the check, but the court would hold Burrell until the check arrives at the courthouse, clears, and is verified.

“I will set bail at $10,000 and expect Mr. Burrell to post that bail. Then we will try the case for 60 days,” Sullivan said. “That should give Mr. Burrell and his attorney enough time to sort out the Nevada issue.”

Although Burrell claimed he could afford the set bail, he was unable to pay the court the money and was held overnight at the Nantucket Police Department. The court is giving him 60 days to return to Nevada on his own recognizance rather than extradite him. He has been given a 60-day date for this case, which is Monday, November 18, when the status of his legal affairs in Nevada will be reviewed.

Burrell has been sued by several banks over the past two years, including First Western Trust Bank, which filed suit in November 2023 alleging that Burrell owes more than $50 million in business and construction loans.

Just a few months later, in April 2024, Burrell was sued by Alpine Bank, which claimed he owed $18 million for an $18.5 million loan made in 2021 – according to the Daily MailOne of Burrell's properties in Aspen, Colorado, was held at an online foreclosure auction after he pledged it as collateral for the $18.5 million loan. Alpine Bank made the only bid at $24.6 million.

Bank of America also filed a lawsuit against him for nearly $4.5 million.

In a countersuit against First Western Bank, Burrell claimed he did not have to repay the debt because the bank knew he would use the money for personal expenses. He also claimed the bank was violating federal lending laws, violating his privacy with the lawsuits, and hindering the sale of his properties because they were trying to auction and sell them to recoup the money he allegedly owed.

Before his arrest on Friday, Burrell had already been involved in other legal disputes on Nantucket over the summer, ranging from a petty theft charge to a local money dispute with the property manager of a small business on the island.

Burrell's charge of shoplifting over $250 was dismissed on June 17 ahead of arraignment in Nantucket District Court on September 9 of this month. Court documents were sealed after the case was dismissed, so it is unclear why the case was dismissed before arraignment. Usually, in cases like this, the reason is because the person either returned the stolen items or paid restitution to the victim of the incident.

Burrell was originally scheduled to appear in Nantucket District Court on July 29 on a charge of shoplifting, but failed to show up for that session, prompting Sullivan to issue a warrant for his arrest. That warrant was lifted on September 6, and three days later, the charge was dismissed prior to his arraignment, meaning it will not appear on his record.

Earlier this summer, a mechanical lien was placed on Burrell's home at 3 Brewster Road because he had withheld more than $26,000 from an island contractor for work performed on the property.

According to the land registry, on July 17, a mechanical lien in the amount of $26,234.69 was placed on his property by Max Perkins, owner of Grey Lady Property Management, for services performed on the property that were allegedly not paid for. Perkins refused to Current with a comment on the situation, but confirmed that he had not received a salary until September 20, 2024.

Burrell's Brewster Road estate is a 0.92-acre property he purchased in 2017 for $10.5 million under the business name 3 Brewster Road LLC. The home consists of two buildings – a main house and a guest house – with 7,855 square feet of space.

The foreclosure auction took place on September 19th at 1 p.m. and lasted approximately 20 to 30 minutes. The winner of the auction was a client of Fisher Real Estate's lead broker, Brian Sullivan. The Current I reached out to Sullivan on Friday afternoon and he politely declined to comment on the transaction or the identity of the buyer.

The 6,655-square-foot single-family home was built in 2015 and has 10 rooms, four bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, according to auction details.

The Current We've reached out to Burrell for comment via text, phone call and email, but we haven't received a response.

Burrell's financial problems in court have been reported in numerous media outlets, including the Daily Mail, Denver Post, Aspen Daily News and New York Post.