Charges weighed in case involving Mercer Island official

Prosecutors will take at least a week to decide whether to file criminal charges against a Mercer Island City Council member who was arrested this week on suspicion of theft and insurance fraud.

Sven Goldmanis, 59, was booked into King County Jail on Wednesday and released several hours later. Goldmanis appeared briefly in court at the jail Friday. Dressed in a blue suit, he signed documents before leaving with his attorney, Michael Kolker of Seattle. They both declined to comment on Goldmanis' arrest.

Goldmanis has been on the Mercer Island council since 1999 and is president of a Bellevue commercial real-estate agency called the Regency Group.

According to Redmond police spokeswoman Stacey Holland, Goldmanis reported the theft of about $10,000 worth of watches from his home in February 2004. Eventually, an insurance company sent a check for $6,000 to Goldmanis' home, Holland said. But Goldmanis had become involved in divorce proceedings by that point, and the check was returned by his estranged wife, who told the insurance company that Goldmanis no longer lived at the home.

About 10 months after the watches were reported stolen, Goldmanis' wife found the watches at a recreational property the family owns, Holland said.

Redmond police took over the investigation last spring because Mercer Island police wanted to avoid any possible conflict of interest, Holland said.

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com