RBS Embezzler James Glover’s USA Bank loan Close to Default

The 20-year Greenwich Capital executive, James Glover, who pled guilty to an embezzlement scheme against Royal Bank of Scotland this month, is likely to see his ski resort real estate project blow up in smoke.

An over built luxury ski mansion is allegedly the driving factor that pushed Glover to steal from RBS when he couldn’t afford to pay his short term construction loan. The seven bedroom home, pimped out with over the top luxury amenities, is now up for sale in a private auction by Concierge. Glover’s partner Tom Poelker, a developer in the Windham area, has kicked Glover out of any management responsibilities. He’s now desperate to sell the home in a no minimum bid auction before the loan is due at the end of the month or the Pennsylvania bank who took over the distressed mortgage could go after their personal assets, which includes Glover’s primary resident in West Harrison, NY. The Glover loan was assumed by Customers Bank when the FDIC shut down the mortgage originator, USA Bank, last July.

News of Glover being suspended from RBS and turned over to authorities surfaced early last year when Greenwich Time and DealBreaker reported Glover felt cashed strapped from the lack of bonus the British subsidized bank was giving in 2009. I reported at Greenwich Time Glover had been vocal with his RBS peers about needing cash to make interest and balloon payments on a commercial loan issued by USA Bank. The $3.6 million loan was for development of a high-end residential development at a ski resort in Windham, New York. The 2008 construction and building improvement loan was issued in June 2008 at 9 percent interest only but Glover and his partner Tom Poelker were unable to get sales going and couldn’t make the June 2010 balloon payment, according to Poelker’s attorney Larry Gardner who handles his real estate transactions. USA bank loan documents show, the secured loan was backed by Glover’s personal ski house and the near 80 acres of prime land the development project had bought for around $1 million.

Poelker is a known developer in the tony upstate New York ski area and the chairman of the Democratic Committee for Greene County. Poelker says their goal was to zone the land into about 9 lots, build a road and sewer hook ups for spec homes selling for about $5 million each. Carol Shaw, a local realtor says most lux homes near the ski resort don’t go for over $2 million. But still, Poelker’s attorney admits, Glover and Poelker began building a 11,000 square spec house during the heart of the 2008 financial crisis with no buyer in site to promote the lux resort community idea. It’s been listed since last year for $5.9 million but had no takers. I reported for DealFlow Media last month that USA Bank is currently under a criminal investigation by the FDIC’s Office of Inspector General. My investigation detailed the bank’s failure due to reckless lending that lead to a depletion of their $35 million in equity capital in only four years. The FDIC seized the bank in July 2010 after they couldn’t raise their risk based equity capital above 7 percent and their lending profile was too highly concentrated in defaulting commercial and construction loans.

Glover’s plea deal with the U.S. Attorney states he stole around $625,000 from RBS by making up a client account, CPS Funding, that had a similar name to a real RBS vendor and client. Glover’s first cousin Bill Kardias’s has a New Jersey based information security business called CPS/Comtech and was a vendor for Greenwich Capital. Court documents say that Glover made nine separate transfers to the fake account set up in New Jersey in 2009 and 2010 and pocketed the money. An RBS internal audit caught the last transfer on Jan. 21, 2010 for $359,180.55 and RBS officials confronted him about the fraud. Glover reversed the transfer and returned the $300,000 immediately. The rest of the money he siphoned off from the bank was return in March 2010.
RBS has stated this was an act of only one person from the bank, but a spokesman for the Department of Justice says the investigation is ongoing.

Neither Glover or his cousin Kardias returned a call for comment.

Gene Riccio, Glover’s attorney, declined to comment except to say that, “It was an unfortunate situation.”

Glover’s sentencing is scheduled for mid-September.

After Glover was fired from RBS he listed his second home, a nine bedroom five bath ski chalet in Windham for $1.1 million. His realtor, Carol Shaw, confirmed it sold at a discount in June for $870,000. According to Poelker’s attorney Gardner, Glover and Poelker then used the proceeds from the sale to bring current the interest on the loan and USA Bank gave them a modification lowering the interest rate to 6 percent and extending the time of the balloon payment to June 30th 2011. Poelker had to add a personal guarantee to the modification. Poelker’s attorney Stewart Barrelson said after the news broke that Glover had been fired and was being investigated, Poelker had him removed as a managing and voting partner of the Llc, Stony Hill Road 1,that runs the resort project. Loan documents show Glover is still personally liable for the $3.6mn USA bank loan. With the new looming construction loan due and no successful sales to any of the nine lots or the $5.9 million spec home; Poelker was in a bind and recently put it up for auction. The auction for the 7 bedroom lux home with in-ground pool on 5 acres, takes place June 25th. Modified loan documents show the bank will release the spec house from the secured collateralized construction loan if they get $3 million. If Glover and Poelker default on the loan the bank can claim the entire project’s land of near 80 acres, plus Glover’s primary residence in West Harrison New York.

The Bank was seized July 9th 2010 and the loans were assumed by Pa.-based Customers Bank, which is run by former Sovereign bank executive Jay Sidhu. Glover’s only lucky break appears to be a loan modification given to his resort project on June 29th just two weeks before USA bank was seized. But my investigation into USA Bank shows Sidhu’s team isn’t so accommodating and has already tried to force other real estate developers in Greenwich and New Canaan into Chapter 7 bankruptcy because they appear to want the mega mansions that were secured by the defaulting USA Bank loans. USA Bank’s father-son chairmen, Fred DeCaro Jr. and Fed DeCaro III, have also been reported to be under criminal investigation for bank fraud.

For now we wait to see if a cash flush distressed debt buyer is able to scoop up the entire Windham resort project for only the $3.6 million principle Glover and Poelker are desperate to pay off.