Lawyers and investors hurl unproven charges at Jose Lindner
COLUMBIA, 5/3/11 (Beat Byte) -- Talk about turning the
old adage about never speaking ill of the dead on its proverbial head.
Mostly over innuendo that he "might" have been involved in some sort of
fraud, Jose Lindner (left) -- a prominent Columbia developer who died
last September -- has gone from glorified to vilified almost
overnight, as $40 million in estate claims and competing
interests vye for a piece of Lindner's remaining land holdings in
court.
The kerfuffle is an extraordinary turnaround for the Cuban immigrant, who
developed the Forum Shopping Center, Broadway Shoppes, and other local
retail malls over nearly 40 years as a Columbia businessperson routinely praised
for his community service.
"Jose Lindner, who was chamber president at the
time...spent countless hours working with the city to achieve a sound,
reasonable tree and landscaping ordinance that benefits all
Columbia," carpet baron Dave Griggs
told the Columbia Tribune in 2002, for instance.
After leaving this life a 2007 Chamber
of Commerce Outstanding Citizen awardee, Lindner started a
mini-Madoff-style descent with a March 24 letter to the Columbia City Council
from attorney Craig van Matre, who alleged
Lindner "haphazardly and probably illegally" operated a
Transportation Development District (TDD) tied to one of his projects.
Now comes a Columbia
Daily Tribune article Saturday by business reporter Jacob
Barker that could outright scorch the Lindner legacy -- if it hadn't instead
revealed all the holes in the case that Lindner was a crook.
Pieces of Providence
Mostly quoting from courthouse filings tied to Lindner's estate and
hypothetical commentary from a retired law professor, Barker's Tribune story
centers around lawsuits alleging Lindner concealed key information from his
business partners, cheating them out of their money.
But given the press
coverage that for years followed virtually every Lindner move, that
argument sounds hollow.
Take the well-reported
case of Providence Farms, LLC, a Lindner holding
company that in 2006 purchased roughly 1,200 acres south of Columbia -- near the
little town of Providence -- a transaction played out in nearly a dozen Trib and
Missourian stories.
Following up as early as February 26, 2008,
the Columbia Heart Beat reported that Lindner intended to sell
the Providence Farms land.
"Conservationists, here's your chance!" we wrote. "The Lindners are
offering about 1,200 acres along the Missouri River for sale. Asking
price: about $41,000,000. Back in November 2006, the Forum Development
Group proprietors purchased the acreage through their Providence Farms, LLC.
It included the former Smith Hatchery property and hundreds of other acres along
Old Plank Road."
In a coincidental 2009 story
he wrote for the Columbia Missourian, Barker himself characterized
a transaction between Providence Farms, another holding company called HMI RIMIC,
LLC, and its principal Rory
Holloway, as little more than the sale of a stalled project.
"At the beginning of June, the Lindners began looking for a buyer of their
own and moved the 1,200 acres from Providence Farms, LLC, to HMI RIMIC, LLC," Barker
wrote -- on August 8, 2009. "Whatever the Lindners wanted to do
with the 1,200 acres that lie just south of Columbia ...didn’t work out."
But Saturday's Trib story implies Providence Farms may have been involved
in shady dealings with HMI and Holloway -- a former advisor to boxer
Mike Tyson. Tyson
sued Holloway, Don King, and a host of other managers -- not
exactly news in Tyson's world -- and Holloway, the Trib story alleges, may have
been involved in a separate grand jury investigation, though he was never named
and the charges against him are vague.
Lawsuits from two of Lindner's wealthy, seemingly-sophisticated investors
join the fray, claiming Lindner kept them in the dark about Providence Farms'
dealings with HMI/Holloway and others. One of those lawsuits, Barker's story
reveals, was filed by Thomas Harrison -- Craig van Matre's law
partner.
Default insurance?
Only three transactions -- which Barker characterizes as "odd" -- took place between Rory Holloway and Jose Lindner, according to the Boone County Recorder's website.
The men signed two separate "quit claim deeds," appearing to give -- and
take -- Providence Farms' land to and from one another, all on the same day.
That does seem odd, but further examination indicates Lindner may have actually
been protecting himself and his partners in an owner-financed land contract.
The second quit claim deed may have been an "insurance policy"
Lindner executed in case Holloway defaulted on monies he owed Lindner for the
1,200 acres. A "Note"
on the Boone County Recorder's website explains the situation.
In the first
quit claim deed, Lindner deeded the land over to Holloway, filing
that deed the day it was signed -- June 10, 2009.
Possibly to protect himself in the event Holloway defaulted, Lindner had
Holloway sign a second
quit claim deed that same day, handing the land back over. The
second deed -- like an insurance policy -- would only be filed if Holloway
defaulted on his debt to Lindner, which he apparently did in August
2010. The contract between Lindner and Holloway called the
practice retaining "the right to reconveyance of the property in the event of
breach or default on the duties and obligations of HMI."
The Recorder's Note also explains that Lindner imposed a number of
restrictions on Holloway, dousing the argument that Holloway had free
reign to do as he pleased with the property, to the potential detriment
of Lindner's investors. "HMI RIMIC, LLC has no rights to convey, or encumber,
or otherwise engage in any transaction with respect to the property, other than
as specifically provided in the contract."
When HMI defaulted, Lindner could simply file the second quit claim deed
and have the land back instantly -- no fuss, no muss, no drawn-out foreclosure
proceedings. Lindner filed the second quit claim deed on August 6,
2010.
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
Both investor lawsuits claim Lindner "improperly concealed the existing
indebtedness of Providence Farms...and did not use the loans secured with their
guarantees for improvements to the Providence Farms land," Barker's Tribune
story notes.
But at least eleven deeds of trust securing over $30 million in Providence Farms debt (variously paid off) between 2005-2010 are on file with the Boone County Recorder. The Recorders Note on the Holloway/HMI contract additionally states that "all parties having any interest in the property are hereby given notice of the contract...copies of which can be examined at escrow agent Boone Central Title."
But at least eleven deeds of trust securing over $30 million in Providence Farms debt (variously paid off) between 2005-2010 are on file with the Boone County Recorder. The Recorders Note on the Holloway/HMI contract additionally states that "all parties having any interest in the property are hereby given notice of the contract...copies of which can be examined at escrow agent Boone Central Title."
Given the public, well-reported nature of all this, how Lindner's partners
were left in the dark remains a mystery itself. Even nearby landowner Robert
Sapp knew what was up with Providence Farms, telling
Jacob Barker in 2009 he "never expected the Lindners to put up any
new buildings."
"He had some wild dreams about it, I guess," said
Sapp, who sold Lindner some Providence Farms property, most of
which "can’t even be built on," he said. "I wasn’t worried at all about it. I
thought it was a pipe dream, and I guess it was."
RELATED: Providence Farms, closely followed
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