Victim threatened to tell FBI about Turkish man’s oil fraud

by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First

A version of this story appears in the Caledonian-Record

The long-delayed criminal trial for a cross-country murder-for-hire case that ended with a Northeast Kingdom man gunned down in January 2018 is now tentatively set for March.

Serhat D. Gumrukcu, 41, of Los Angeles, had been scheduled to start trial in U.S. District Court in Burlington earlier this week, but one of his lawyers was diagnosed with cancer, and a postponement was approved last month.

Chief Federal Judge Christina Reiss agreed during a status conference in the case Friday afternoon, heard proposed timelines by both sides before beginning to focus on mid-March.

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Authorities have said Gumrukcu is the man who ordered the hit of Gregory Davis, 49, of Danville, who was going to blow the whistle on a multimillion-dollar fraud involving international investment in an oil deal.

The federal authorities maintain Jerry Banks, 37, of Fort Garland, Col., posing as a deputy federal marshal, kidnapped Davis from his home at 884 Hawkins Road in Danville at about 8:45 p.m. Jan. 6, 2018, and killed him that night in Barnet, about 15 miles away.

Vermont State Police said the handcuffed Davis was found the following afternoon in a pull-off area on Peacham Road in Barnet. Davis died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso.

Also, during the Friday court hearing, Gumrukcu pleaded not guilty to a new indictment obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Aug. 29.

Gumrukcu is charged with conspiring between May 2017 and February 2018 with several people, including Berk Ertay, one of the chief organizers, Aron Ethridge and Banks, to have Davis killed by Banks.

Gumrukcu also is charged in a conspiracy count to cause Banks to travel from Colorado to Vermont between Jan. 1, 2018, and Jan. 6, 2018, to carry out the homicide in exchange for payment.

The third count maintains wire fraud and appears to combine claims the government had made in two counts in an earlier indictment.

The defense successfully asked Reiss to dismiss count four for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, but the judge said the prosecution was free to have the grand jury look at it again if it was reworked.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Van de Graff, the lead prosecutor on the case, said the government was hoping to get to trial soon. He said the widow, Melissa Davis, has been waiting almost seven years for justice.

“She is very interested in getting the case resolved,” Van de Graff said.

“We are ready to try the case,” he said,

He suggested a trial early in the new year, while also noting the government understood the cancer diagnosis of one of the primary defense lawyers, Ethan A. Balogh of San Francisco.

Balogh said he will know more about his treatment next week and will update the court.

Balogh proposed March 15 for the trial and Van de Graff countered with March 2. He said every day matters to Mrs. Davis.

Reiss said she would block out March 14 to April 21 and wait to hear from Balogh in about a week with his medical update.

Reiss said it was important that Balogh focuses on his well-being, but he also noted that his client has been sitting in jail since May 2022, awaiting his day in court.

Lisa Shelkrot, one of the top defense lawyers in Vermont, had been working with Balogh and the other primary lead defense lawyer Susan K. Marcus of New York City, but was cut loose.

Reiss had proposed at the last hearing getting Shelkrot back involved in case Balogh was unable to proceed, especially at the last minute.

Balough said he was the defendant’s lawyer of choice.

Gumrukcu is detained at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland.

Davis was a father of six children, and his wife of 14 years, Melissa, was pregnant, authorities said.

The family had been in Vermont for about three years, and he worked in Barre at Safety-Kleen, a national environmental consulting firm.

A company cellphone was found inside his jacket at the scene. The couple had home-schooled their children, neighbors reported at the time. The family attended the Concord Community Church on Main Street.

In 2017, Davis was threatening Gumrukcu and his older brother Murat about going to the FBI with evidence the two Turkish brothers “were defrauding him in a multimillion-dollar oil deal,” court records maintain.

The records show that Gumrukcus entered an oil deal with Davis in early 2015.

Court records show that Eratay worked as an assistant for Serhat Gumrukcu from January 2015 to January 2018. It was part of his job to provide false information to Davis about business dealings. Eratay sent and received emails at Gumrukcu’s direction and used some of his Google accounts to falsely pose as Gumrukcu.

The plea agreement said Gumrukcu asked Eratay before the summer of 2017 to help find a hitman. Court records note that Gumrukcu wired about $300,000 to two bank accounts controlled by Eratay between June 2017 and September 2017.

Records show that Eratay made a series of withdrawals of $9,000 or less to help fund the plan and avoid suspicion from the banks.

The defense and prosecution have said the elaborate investigation yielded considerable evidence and information. They noted an estimated 55 search warrants in the case, many of them approved by now-retired Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy.

Van de Graaf has said another 8 to 10 search warrants were issued out of state, including for the homes of Eratay and Banks when they were arrested.

Banks, the shooter, pleaded guilty to three felony charges: murder for hire, conspiracy to kidnap with death resulting and engaging in a monetary transaction with illegal proceeds.

Gumrukcu immigrated to the United States about 2013, and not long after arriving, he married William Anderson Wittekind in 2013, court records show. Court papers said he became a permanent resident in 2014, and Gumrukcu had said in court that he is a citizen of Turkey.

Gumrukcu, who is a self-proclaimed medical doctor, had “tens of millions of dollars” and had a significant motive to try to fund a flight by Eratay to stop him from becoming a witness against him, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont has said.

Serhat Gumrukcu is listed as a co-founder and inventor at Enochian BioSciences Inc. He claimed on the company website he holds a medical degree and doctorate from Russian universities, but authorities said they have serious doubts about his claims.

Melissa Davis, the widow, has filed on behalf of the estate of Gregory Davis a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against Gumrukcu.

Mrs. Davis, who was named administrator of her husband’s estate, also maintains a loss of consortium and intentional infliction of emotional distress, the lawsuit said.