Business briefs

SkyWest to pay 3-cent quarterly cash dividend

ST. GEORGE — SkyWest Inc. said Friday that its board of directors has declared at quarterly cash dividend of 3 cents per common share.

The dividend is payable April 7 to shareholders of record March 31.

SkyWest has two wholly owned subsidiaries: SkyWest Airlines, based in St. George, and Atlanta-based ASA. They served a combined 230 cities in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean with 2,488 daily flights.

Ogden man appears in court on fraud charges

An Ogden businessman facing criminal charges accusing him of defrauding more than 800 investors out of more than $140 million made his first appearance in court.

Val E. Southwick, 62, appeared in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court on Thursday to face nine counts of securities fraud, a second-degree felony. Court records indicate Southwick was told of the charges and a roll call hearing was scheduled for March 4.

Southwick is accused of operating a massive Ponzi scheme under the umbrella of VesCor. He is also facing numerous lawsuits and a federal Securities and Exchange Commission complaint over the scheme.

On Wednesday, Southwick settled a $2.1 million federal lawsuit filed against him. He is accused of making numerous misrepresentations in a real-estate deal to a Salt Lake County man, costing him more than $1 million.

Agency aims to facilitate Utah-Hungary trade

The Governor's Office of Economic Development and the Hungarian Investment & Trade Development Agency will sign a memorandum next week designed to facilitate trade and business relations between Utah and Hungary.

The signing will coincide with the ceremonial opening of the honorary consulate in Utah. George Simon will be sworn in as the honorary consul for the Republic of Hungary.