A prominent investor who has worked with some notable Democrats has been arrested on a warrant issued in Las Vegas.
Daniel Burrell, 45, was handcuffed in Massachusetts late Friday morning, hours after one of the many mansions he owns sold at a foreclosure auction Thursday for $12,525,000.
The four-bedroom home is located on Nantucket Island, the same place where Burrell was arrested for allegedly writing a bad check to a casino for $1.5 million. He also reportedly owns two other properties there.
Burrell served as a senior adviser to John Kerry during his 2004 presidential campaign but was labeled a fugitive after allegedly defaulting on more than $75 million in bank loans that he used to pay for a divorce, buy a yacht and purchase homes.
Among them was the recently sold property. A day later, Burrell was found in handcuffs and ankle shackles in Nantucket District Court, speaking on the phone with relatives and asking for $10,000 bail. The Yale-trained financier had, at the time of writing, been unable to post bail.
Daniel Burrell, 45, was handcuffed in Massachusetts on Friday morning after writing a bad check to a Las Vegas casino for $1.5 million.
His arrest came hours after one of the many mansions he owns was sold at a foreclosure auction on Thursday, for $12,525,000.
“My understanding is that he was arrested today on a warrant out of Nevada where he owes money, presumably in these casino markers, to a Las Vegas casino,” Andrew Fritz, Burrell’s Nevada attorney, told Nantucket Judge James M. Sullivan after the arrest.
Appearing remotely in court, the jurist noted that the case had been assigned to the Las Vegas Justice Court and revealed how he will represent Burrell during the hearing scheduled for later this week in front of a judge.
He added that before Friday’s arrest, he had asked the court to revoke the warrant, offering “a good faith payment to get things moving.”
Fritz said the court did not reject the offer, which he said was tentatively set at $50,000.
Instead, officials responded by reiterating that they would not withdraw the order until they had received “a good, secure payment of some kind” — one that never came to fruition as a litany of banks filed suit against the investor who once ran a company linked to Hunter Biden.
Her bail was set at $10,000, prompting Fritz to ask Sullivan if he could pay her by check instead of cash because “it was 4:10 and the banks were closed,” he said.
Sullivan said they could do so, but the court would have to hold Burrell until the check was brought to court and verified.
He did so in the expectation that Burrell, who is believed to be worth millions, “would publish.”
Burrell is pictured here with his now ex-wife Nikola at a 2023 event in Aspen, where he also owns several properties. The couple split in the months afterward, before Burrell was labeled a fugitive after allegedly defaulting on more than $75 million in bank loans that he used to pay for the divorce.
“We will then continue with the case for 60 days,” Sullivan said.
Despite claiming he could afford to pay bail, Burrell was unable to come up with the money.
He was then held overnight at the Nantucket Police Department before being released and ordered to return to Nevada within 60 days to face consequences.
This was offered by Sullivan in lieu of extradition, ahead of a hearing scheduled for November 18, where the status of Burrell’s legal affairs, only in Nevada, will be reviewed.
Meanwhile, the man who once described Kerry as “an incredible mentor” has cases – and homes – in several other states as well.
This includes a complaint filed by First Western Trust Bank in November 2023, alleging that Burrell owes them about $56 million in unpaid commercial and construction loans.
Months later, in April 2024, another case arose against Burrell, this time brought by Alpine Bank.
He claimed he owed $18 million on an $18.5 million loan issued in 2021, prompting another online foreclosure auction for one of Burrell’s properties in Aspen, Colorado, after he pledged it as collateral against the $18.5 million loan.
In April 2024, another case arose against Burrell, filed by Alpine Bank. It alleged that he owed $18 million on an $18.5 million loan in 2021, prompting another foreclosure auction of one of Burrell’s properties in Aspen (seen here) after he put it up as collateral.
Alpine made the sole offer of $24.6 million, as Bank of America also filed a lawsuit against Burrell over unpaid loans.
The lawsuit claims the former member of President Bill Clinton’s administration owes them just under $4.5 million, as photos taken by the Nantucket Current showed him being led away in handcuffs on Friday.
He served on Clinton’s Domestic Policy Council from 2000 to 2001, before becoming a senior adviser to John Kerry in his 2002 Senate re-election bid and his 2004 presidential campaign against George W. Bush.
Burrell went on to advise on several congressional and statewide races across the country before rising to the role of partner at Rosemont Capital, a New York-based equity firm.
He then served as CEO of Rosemont Realty, a Santa Fe-based commercial real estate company that is an arm of the New York firm.
During his tenure there, from 2009 to 2013, he oversaw the construction of 173 office buildings in 25 states and raised $575 million.
The company had ties to President Joe Biden’s first son, Hunter Biden, who served on Rosemont’s advisory board.
He served on Bill Clinton’s Domestic Policy Council from 2000 to 2001, before becoming a senior adviser to John Kerry during his 2002 Senate re-election and ill-fated presidential campaign. The two are pictured together at a gala event in 2013.
In the years since, Burrell has also founded several for-profit osteopathic medical schools, spread across Idaho, New Mexico and Florida.
He also founded The Burrell Group, which according to his LinkedIn profile, is “a portfolio of individual private companies focusing on pharmaceutical education, behavioral sciences, financial services, commercial and residential real estate… in partnership with public and private universities, and life safety and security systems.”
In addition to allegedly using money obtained under false pretenses for his divorce, Burrell – who has five children – bought several mansions, many of which are being used as collateral and are at risk of foreclosure.
They can be found scattered across Colorado, Massachusetts, Florida and New Mexico, and all of them have prices reaching into the millions.
Two of his children from his first marriage to jewelry mogul Katherine Jetter are currently in college, while his third child with Jetter just started school this year.
She also has two children with Nikola, one of whom attends boarding school in Boston and the other lives at his mother’s home.
At the time of writing, Burrell, who also worked as a contributor for The Huffington Post, is no longer considered a fugitive as he continues to pursue his cases.
