This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2004, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Until recently, there was always at least one BMW in the driveway at Ralph Hansen's home, a rambler in an upper middle-class neighborhood in Sandy.
Hansen's yard, which included a professional-grade sports court in the back, was the nicest on the block.
But the gardener has stopped coming, the grass has grown long and weeds have sprouted. For the first time in years, the yard was devoid of fancy decorations at Halloween.
Neighbors now know why: Ralph Hansen was charged this week with embezzling more than $2.6 million from Intermountain Health Care, his former employer.
Prosecutors say Hansen, 52, used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle that included home improvements, travel, mortgage payments and contributions to sporting organizations.
That lifestyle began crumbling in March, when IHC fired Hansen after federal and internal audits uncovered the alleged embezzlement.
During the last three months, neighbors say, the Hansens have been holding weekend yard sales, selling off a variety of belongings, from the studio-style horror mannequins that used to decorate their yard at Halloween to a fancy wrought-iron coffee table and large-screen TVs.
"She told me it was out of necessity, and I didn't press things any further than that," said neighbor Leslie Marsing, referring to a conversation she had with a woman she presumed was Hansen's wife. Marsing is not sure, though, because the Hansens "always kept to themselves."
Other neighbors said they had heard Ralph Hansen had lost his job but did not know the circumstances - until this week.
At the recent yard sales, the Hansens also unloaded soccer balls, training equipment and lawn chairs decorated with the red and white logo of the Utah Salt Ratz, a minor league men's soccer team Ralph Hansen sponsored.
Salt Ratz is among at least 16 business entities that Hansen registered with the Utah Department of Commerce.
To date, investigators have identified only one, FCG Diversified Communications, as a bogus company to which Hansen allegedly diverted IHC funds.
Most of the other businesses were either fictitious or their registration has lapsed.
Prosecutors would not say whether any of the businesses other than FCG were used by Hansen as fronts for laundering IHC money.
"There were certain accounts that looked like business accounts that he made up," said Bob Stott, an assistant Salt Lake County district attorney. "He was funneling money into other accounts - supposedly business accounts - but they were obviously his accounts."
According to state documents, Hansen and dancer/choreographer Derryl Yeager in 1993 became principals in the Utah Contemporary Dance Theatre - which later became Odyssey Dance Theatre, with Yeager as artistic director.
Hansen's daughter, Kelly, was a dancer with the company and Hansen was a major benefactor, Yeager said in an e-mail.
"Ralph became the board chair for a year or so," Yeager said.
From 1998 to 1999, Hansen donated $32,000 to the company - 20 percent of its total donations, he said.
Hansen also supported - with about $7,000 - a related junior company directed by his daughter at the Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem, Yeager said.
"Our relationship deteriorated when he created the Odyssey Management Company on his own and then offered us a lot of money [$100,000 or so] to let him take over the management of Odyssey Dance Theatre," Yeager said. "When the [theater] board and I voted to turn down the offer, Ralph resigned from the board."
Several months later, Hansen and his daughter took the dancers who were trained in the junior program and created their own company called Dance-Speak, "but the company fizzled," Yeager said.
After learning this week about the embezzlement charges, Yeager said, he was glad his company turned down Hansen's $100,000 offer. "During his tenure, I was always appreciative of his support - but his generosity always seemed larger than what his means were."
An arrest warrant has been issued for Hansen, who was charged Tuesday with nine counts of second-degree felony theft and one count of money laundering. Each count carries a possible prison term of one to 15 years in prison.
By Thursday, Hansen had not been booked into jail. He and his attorney have not returned numerous calls from The Salt Lake Tribune.
Sandy resident Judith Sorensen and her husband, C. Dennis Sorensen, a lifelong friend of Hansen, joined Hansen and his wife, Nancy Hansen, in setting up FCG in 1996.
She said Ralph Hansen told them that the company would establish employee retirement funds.
"But it never took off. And we kind of dropped it," Judith Sorensen said. "That was a long time ago. We never got any money from it."