He promised his company would deliver "game-changing" green technology. Federal authorities said he was more interested in how much green he could swindle from investors.

Real-estate developer and tech-firm founder Ken Losch was indicted Tuesday on 17 counts of wire fraud tied to his company, Advanced Green Innovations.

Losch, who was shackled at the wrists, stood before a judge and pleaded not guilty in Arizona U.S. District Court to defrauding investors out of $37 million. He also denied allegations that could result in the forfeiture of his personal assets.

The indictment came more than three years after the FBI raided AGI offices and made a direct plea to the public in search of anyone who invested in the company or any of its subsidiaries.

The specific allegations against Losch were not detailed in court. The indictment, which was sealed from public view until Tuesday, was not immediately available.

Losch is best known for a failed Tempe high-rise development called Centerpoint, a twin-tower condominium that for years stood like a pair of unfinished and abandoned obelisks at Sixth Street and Maple Avenue.

Case 3 years in the making

The IRS and the FBI in December 2015 served simultaneous search warrants at the Phoenix and Chandler offices of Advanced Green Innovations, which described itself as being "dedicated to developing and commercializing a suite of green technologies."

The exact mission of Advanced Green is hard to determine. It promised to develop "a suite of green technologies." But it seemed to concentrate on converting gas-fueled engines to natural gas.

The company's website said its main focus was the: "associated gas solution, the complete natural gas truck conversion kit and the stationary power generation natural gas conversion kit."

Advanced Green was formed in 2009. According to its website, the company operated three facilities totaling 131,000 square feet with 145 full-time employees, mostly engineers and technicians "who are working diligently to develop their innovative ideas."

The company's administrative headquarters is on Camelback Road in Phoenix and its research facility is on West Oakland Street in Chandler. The company also listed a second research facility called "the Roosevelt Location," but does not list a specific address.

The company's site boasted a variety of impressive-sounding equipment and said it was focused on "analytical capabilities" and "development." It did not say how the company used the equipment.

For instance, the company's site pictured a "Siemens D5000 X-ray Diffractometer." It provided detailed specifications about the equipment, saying: "Because of the 40 position automatic sample changer and a cobalt X-ray tube we are able to characterize the properties of various materials on an atomic scale."

According to the FBI, Arizona Green's subsidiaries include: ZHRO Solutions, ZHRO Power, H2 Energy, and TDC Injectors.

Arizona Corporation Commission records show Advanced Green is a limited liability company registered in Nevada. It lists itself and another LLC called Cochise Investments as its only members.

In court on Tuesday, federal prosecutors pointed to Cochise as a potential revenue source for Losch, who they said also has access to bank accounts and real estate in Canada.

A history in real-estate development

On his LinkedIn page, Losch also is listed as the co-founder and principal of two real-estate development companies, Avenue Communities LLC and Trillium Residential LLC.

He boasts of more than 25 years of real-estate development experience in both the United States and Canada. His companies have collectively purchased, developed, constructed, financed, and managed property worth $2.8 billion.

Federal prosecutors described Losch as a significant flight risk and asked that his movements be severely limited while awaiting trial.

Losch surrendered himself to the court Tuesday morning. His attorney, Alan Baskin, argued Losch has been dealing with federal law enforcement since 2015 and has not attempted to flee Arizona. He said Losch already had turned over his U.S. and Canadian passports to authorities.

"He had almost four years to pack his bags," said Baskin, who specializes in securities law.

Losch said little during the hearing. He spoke low and deferentially to the judge, limiting his answers to mostly "yes" and "no."

When not addressing the judge, Losch kept his head down and exchanged a few glances with his wife and grown son, who sat a few rows behind him in the courtroom. A handful of Advanced Green investors were also on hand. None spoke.

Losch was released with orders not to leave Arizona pending a bail hearing next week. His trial was tentatively set for May.

Spectacular failure of Tempe high-rise

Centerpoint was a poster project for metro Phoenix's real-estate collapse during the Great Recession.

Construction began on the 30- and 22-story buildings in 2005. But when the market crashed in 2008, Centerpoint went with it. The failed development exposed Losch and his partners at Avenue Communities to a chain of financial misery.

To finance the project, Centerpoint developers borrowed $135 million from a company called Mortgages Ltd., which specialized in unconventional construction loans — until the recession hit. Then the company lost nearly all of its capital, nearly $1 billion raised from investors. Chief Executive Officer Scott Coles died by suicide in 2008.

Centerpoint, which was Mortgage Ltd.'s biggest asset and investment, was doomed. The project became mired in bankruptcies, lawsuits and construction liens.

By 2011, the towers had been renamed, rebranded as an apartment complex and sold to a new developer for about $30 million — roughly $100 million less than the original loan.

Losch, who once hailed the project as Tempe's emergence as a world-class city "on par with Miami's South Beach," sought bankruptcy protection for his company in 2008.

In 2006, Avenue Communities also announced plans to build a retail, office, commercial and possibly residential project on and around the site of Tempe's historic Hayden Flour Mill.

That project also failed.

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Consumer-investigations reporter Robert Anglen covers fraud and abuse involving businesses, health-care entities, nonprofits and government agencies. Contact him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @robertanglen.