Mastro to fight regulators' charges; Says he wants hearing; Bankrupt developer accused of misleading Friends & Family investors.Byline: Eric Pryne; Seattle Times business reporter Bankrupt Seattle real-estate magnate Michael R. Mastro said Wednesday that he will fight regulators' charges that he misled investors in violation of state securities law. Mastro said he has requested a hearing to contest the allegations. Mike Stevenson, director of the state Department of Financial Institutions' securities division, said late Wednesday that his office had not yet received such a request. The deadline for an appeal is today. Stevenson's division charged earlier this month that Mastro made false statements and omitted important information in representations to so-called "Friends & Family" investors from whom he raised more than $100 million. It proposed that he be fined $100,000 and prohibited from accepting more money from individual investors. Mastro spoke Wednesday during a break in a public meeting with creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court bankruptcy court n. the specialized Federal court in which bankruptcy matters under the Federal Bankruptcy Act are conducted. There are several bankruptcy courts in each state, and each one's territory covers several counties. . He was forced into bankruptcy this summer by three banks that said he was not paying his debts. Mastro has since filed documents indicating he has more than $580 million in liabilities. His Friends & Family investors, mostly Western Washington
Western Washington is a region of the United States defined as that part of Washington west of the Cascade Mountains. residents, are among the unsecured creditors Unsecured Creditor An individual or institution that lends money without obtaining specified assets as collateral. This poses a higher risk to the creditor because they have nothing to fall back on should the borrower default on the loan. A debenture holder is an unsecured creditor. who will be last in line to collect when Mastro's assets are liquidated DAMAGES, LIQUIDATED, contracts. When the parties to a contract stipulate for the payment of a certain sum, as a satisfaction fixed and agreed upon by them, for the not doing of certain things particularly mentioned in the agreement, the sum so fixed upon is called liquidated damages. (q.v. . They're not likely to get much, James Rigby, the court-appointed trustee in charge of that liquidation The collection of assets belonging to a debtor to be applied to the discharge of his or her outstanding debts. A type of proceeding pursuant to federal Bankruptcy , repeated at the Wednesday meeting. Some Friends & Family creditors want to replace Rigby with Brian Ward Brian Ward is political operative at the parliament of the European Union in Brussels, aligned with the Irish political party Fine Gael. Early life Brian was born in Dublin in 1981. He was brought up in Raheny where he continues to live while in Ireland. , a Mercer Island Mer·cer Island A city of west-central Washington, coextensive with Mercer Island in Lake Washington near Seattle. It is primarily residential. Population: 22,300. attorney and real-estate broker who until last year ran a private-equity fund that invested mostly in apartments. An election for the position was conducted at Wednesday's meeting, but the outcome won't be known until next week. After the balloting, Rigby spent more than three hours questioning Mastro under oath about his complex finances. Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com CAPTION(S): Real-estate magnate Michael Mastro, 83 (0409905997) Copyright (c) 2009 Seattle Times Company, All Rights Reserved. |
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