Johnston developer Daniel Pettit sent flowers to Dana and Jerry Ogden after the 2021 loss of their 27-year-old son to fentanyl poisoning ― a gesture that Dana Ogden said moved the grieving California couple deeply.
Two-and-a-half years later, the Ogdens are among numerous investors and lenders from across the country wondering if they will ever recoup a large sum of money they gave Pettit in an investment deal gone bad.
Ogden, of Dublin, California, near San Francisco, told Watchdog she has tried to reach out to the FBI, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, the Iowa Insurance Division and Johnston police as they investigate Pettit, 43, amid widespread allegations of fraud.
She said Johnston police appear to be investigating her allegations that Pettit never repaid her and her husband the $60,000 he persuaded them to invest in a West Des Moines apartment development deal. She said she has the evidence and paperwork showing that Pettit took their money and that he failed to repay them in accordance with a legal agreement they both signed.