Just lifted this gem from a share... I think youll find it quite interesting. --------------------------------- Clarence Payne Dear Senators, Can I just say to Governor de Jongh.... Really??? Transcontinental Realty Investors (TCI) as the Virgin Islands Governments new partner in business at the proposed hotel complex and marina at Mandahl Bay on St. Thomas??? It appears that the only type of recycling that the Virgin Islands knows how to do is to bring back the Allen Stanfords of the business world.... We really do seem to love those pirates of the Caribbean. And this outfit springs from Dallas, TX also, and formed where else... Nevada. Heres how another article characterized this outfit.... ...ability to create the illusion of success and prosperity that deceived the investing public with a self-portrait of ever-increasing profits, assets and net worth, Please see attached, along with article below. There are many such pieces to cite in the news over the past 15 to 20 years about this company and its heads and affiliates. Can we please... PLEASE... start vetting those with whom we might consider doing business? I think the people of the Virgin Islands deserve more respect, and fiscal responsibility. [And of course. None of the above or attached even begins to address the ecological consequences to Mandahl Bay of this proposed development.] Regards, Susan Parten, P.E. This is from Jackson, MS. The Jackson Free Press published a good story last week on Jacksons efforts to build a hotel next to the convention center. The city pushes a storyline of Jackson working with a reputable developer to revitalize downtown. The city acts as a partner with the developer. The developer builds a hotel for the convention center, and we all live happily ever after. However, there are two sides to every story and the other side of this story is about the developer: Transcontinental Realty Investments (TCI). A company in deep financial trouble. A company charged by more than one lender of committing mortgage fraud. A company thrown out of bankruptcy court twice this year after the lenders and trustee accused it of filing multiple bankruptcy petitions in bad faith. The company is leveraged at nearly 100% and lost $80 million last year. Several lenders sued TCI and its subsidiaries this year after TCI defaulted on nearly $100 million in loans. This is the company Jackson wants to make a partner in building a hotel. The JFP reported: the city would partner with Transcontinental Realty Investors, or TCI, to build the hotel. Representatives from TCI said a convention center hotel will increase business at the Jackson Convention Complex and at downtown businesses. If the council adopts the plan, the city and TCI will issue $70.1 million in tax-exempt Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds through the Jackson Redevelopment Authority and $22.5 million in taxable bonds to help pay for the project. Total funding for the project would be $96.1 million... Ward 1 Councilman Quentin Whitwell expressed concerns about the city guaranteeing the bonds and what would happen if TCI defaulted on its obligations, but Swerdling (City adviser) said that was unlikely. Whitwell also asked what would happen if the hotel did not do as well as they hoped... Article Under the plan, the city would purchase land from TCI for $14.3 million. Either the city or JRA would then lease the land for the hotel to TCI to develop. Since the parcel of land is larger than would be needed for the hotel, the city could sell or develop the extra land around the hotel. So the city issues bonds, pays $14.3 million to TCI, and jointly assumes the risk with TCI. Naturally the adviser assures Mr. Whitwell and the rest of the city council that everything will be fine. The risk is manageable. You know, trust us. Armed Forces Bank filed suit on March 9, 2011 against Transcontinental Realty Investors (TCI) and several companies owned by TCI. One of these companies is TCI MS Investments. Armed Forces Bank claimed it was owed $72,526,355 on a 2004 loan made to TCI. Armed Forces Bank accused TCI of transferring the title to the property purchased with the loan to a straw company on December 23, 2010. The straw company filed for bankruptcy on January 4, 2011. TCI subsidiaries sold several properties to the straw company, FRE Real Estate on December 23, 2010. A TCI-owned company changed its name to FRE Real estate on the same day. The properties were secured by loans made by Armed Forces Bank. The plaintiff stated the transfers and bankruptcy were without notice to Armed Forces (p.30, paragraph 96). Petra CRE made similar allegations in its own lawsuit filed on March 15, 2011 in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana against TCI. Petra stated it loaned the money to (TCI company) TCI Amaco on August 30, 2007 to purchase a commercial office building in New Orleans. Petra claims TIC owes $19,500,000 and the company played similar games in New Orleans after purchasing the property. TCI purchased the building. TCI even signed an agreement with Petra stating tenants would make all rental payments directly to Petra.The shenanigans started in October 2010. Petra claims TCI notified the tenants to make all rental payments directly to the TCI-owned management company instead of Petra in violation of the agreement. TCI transferred ownership of the building to FRE on December 23, 2010 as well and recorded it with the Parish Clerk of Court. Once again, the lender said it was never notified of the transfer (Just think Claiborne Frazier, just on a larger scale) and saw its collateral vanish into the ledgers of the straw company. FRE filed a bankruptcy petition in Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Texas on January 4, 2011. FRE listed the Amco building as one of its assets in the bankruptcy petition. The Dallas Business reported in January: FRE owns 29 land parcels, six office buildings, an apartment complex and two airplane hangars, with a combined value of $234.5 million, according to the company’s bankruptcy filings. FRE owes a total of $181.5 million on the properties, the company’s filings say. All except four of the properties are in North Texas. FRE’s filings list more than 150 secured and unsecured creditors, including Armed Forces Bank NA and Wells Fargo Capital Finance Inc. Article Petra, Armed Forces, and other lenders such as Wells Fargo objected to the petition and accused FRE of filing in bad faith. Wells Fargo also alleged FRE was created as a shell company. TCI subsidiaries transferred assets to FRE even if those assets were secured by loans. FRE then filed bankruptcy while creditors saw their collateral disappear. Wells Fargo claims it lost ten properties securing loans of $8.2 million due to these maneuvers by TCI. The court agreed with the lenders and dismissed the bankruptcy petition on March 1, 2011. Undeterred, FRE filed another bankruptcy petition on April 4. The trustee filed an objection to the petition. The court dismissed the petition in June. However, TCIs legal problems did not stay in Texas. A federal district court in Arkansas entered a $3,441,634 judgment against TCI on March 14, 2011. The court decreed land owned by TCI in Benton County, AR would be sold to help satisfy the judgment. So let me see: Bankruptcy fraud. Mortgage fraud for tens of millions of dollars. Multi-million dollar judgments. Foreclosures. Phony companies created to hide assets from creditors. Yet, according to Jacksons advisor, the risk is manageable and we should pay $14
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 00:20:41 +0000
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