Riverside Info Tag: arcade

Riverside Info Tag: arcade http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Discussion Forum for Riverside Illinois en Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:13:09 +0000 spatny on "Fiscal Emergency / Wextrust / Arcade Building" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/fiscal-emergency-wextrust-arcade-building/page/18#post-15444 Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:48:30 +0000 spatny 15444@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Good news. Sounds like something we can all support. In cas you didn't see this... the CEO of Wextrust got some job security from the Feds: "New York - WexTrust Capital LLC co-founder Joseph Shereshevsky was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding victims of at least $9.2 million as part of a Ponzi scheme. Shereshevsky, 54, and WexTrust co-founder Steven Byers were charged in 2008 with lying to investors in their now-collapsed real estate fund. Many of their victims were members of the Orthodox Jewish community. The penalty was at the top of the range suggested by federal guidelines. Byers was sentenced to more than 13 years in April. “Mr. Shereshevsky very much had a controlling role in this criminal enterprise,” U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin said in a hearing today in Manhattan. “Although he purports to be a religious man, he preyed on his own community.” Shereshevsky, the former chief operating officer of Chicago-based WexTrust, pleaded guilty to mail fraud, conspiracy and securities fraud in February. Chin said today that victims may have lost more than $20 million. Prosecutors claimed Byers and Shereshevsky told investors they planned to buy residential and commercial properties in Illinois, North Carolina, Wisconsin, New York and elsewhere. Instead, they paid investor returns and financed unrelated projects, the government said Earlier in today’s hearing, Shereshevsky admitted that he had destroyed the lives of some WexTrust investors. “The bottom line is that I knew what I did was wrong and I did it anyway,” he said. Shereshevsky choked up at times while reading his statement and asked the court for mercy. Chin also order him to pay restitution of $7.89 million and to forfeit $9.2 million from his criminal activities. Then in August Judge Chin struck again: This is from the AmLaw bulletin: "August 25, 2011 7:28 PM Judge Scrutinizes Legal Fees in WexTrust Ponzi Scheme Case Posted by Sara Randazzo It's been a tough month for law firms looking to be paid for their work on the receivership case connected to WexTrust Capital, a Chicago-based real estate investment firm that collapsed in 2008 after the Securities and Exchange Commission charged two of its executives with running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded 1,200 primarily Orthodox Jewish investors. According to the SEC, WexTrust Capital illegally diverted $100 million of the $255 million it raised to invest in commercial real estate, commodity funds, and South African diamond mines for other purposes. In addition to raising concerns about the proposed hiring of Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman as insurance coverage counsel on the matter at an early August hearing, Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has also limited fee awards to several firms working on the case and rejected what he said was too lenient a settlement with a Chicago law firm accused of malpractice by the WexTrust estate. (Chin continues to oversee the case, filed in Manhattan federal district court, though he was elevated to the appellate bench last year.) In a court order filed Wednesday, Chin recognized the "diligence, competence, and skill" of ther various professional services firms working on the matter, but also said he was troubled that the WexTrust estate has paid more than $15.5 million to those firms so far—"more than three times the approximately $5 million paid to the victims." Of that $15.5 million, more than half has gone to Dewey & LeBoeuf, the former firm of court-appointed WexTrust receiver Timothy Coleman. When Washington, D.C.–based Coleman jumped to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in March 2010, he took the WexTrust work with him. Chin ruled Wednesday that Dewey has received enough money from the estate for now and denied the firm's latest fee request, its tenth, for $666,605 covering its work on the matter from November 2009 to June 2010 (Dewey says approximately $23,000 of that belongs to Coleman). According to Chin's order, he will reconsider Dewey's fee request when the case concludes. A fee request from Freshfields for work done between March 2010 and December 2010 fared better. Chin approved payment of $155,479, including $17,438 billed by Coleman specifically. The approved amount reflects a previously agreed upon 50 percent holdback of the firm's already discounted fees. Freshfields, too, can apply to receive the balance of its fees at the conclusion of the case, Chin ruled. In his order, Chin did express concern over Freshfields's rates which, even factoring in its agreed-upon 35 percent discount, still run between roughly $179 and $634 an hour. It wasn't the first time this month that the judge raised the issue of high law firm billing rates in connection with the case. At an August 3 hearing to discuss a proposed settlement with Much Shelist Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein, a Chicago law firm facing a malpractice suit for its work representing WexTrust on securities matters before it collapsed, Chin considered a request from Coleman to hire Kasowitz to help pursue professional liability claims against Much Shelist's insurance company. "Kasowitz Benson is a terrific law firm, an expensive law firm," Chin said at the hearing, according to The Virginian-Pilot. Then he asked, "Do we need Kasowitz Benson here?" Chin questioned whether Kasowitz's fees would consume a significant portion of the $13 million Coleman had proposed hiring the firm to recover, the Virginian-Pilot reports. A number of defrauded investors filed court papers objecting to Kasowitz's hiring. In one such letter, an investor pointed to the proposed hiring of Kasowitz as continuing "the pattern of draining excessive fees from the estate for the benefit of the lawyers." The question of Kasowitz's hiring may be moot for now. On Wednesday Chin also denied the proposed settlement that would have allowed Kasowitz to go after Much Shelist's insurer. The proposed settlement, filed with the court on May 6, suggests that it would be futile to try and extract any money from Much Shelist directly and would only generate more litigation-related legal fees for the estate. Chin took issue with that position, pointing to a public record showing that Much Shelist generates more than $15 million a year in income. Chin, according to Wednesday's order, objected to the proposed settlement's leniency, saying it "would not require Much Shelist to pay even a nickel" and would bar any future claims from being brought against the firm over its WexTrust work. He also questioned why Much Shelist should be able to keep $2.38 million it collected for work done between January 2005 and December 2008 for the investment fund. In Wednesday's order, Chin also approved $35,133 in fees for Arent Fox, and $262,760 for real estate adviser Badger Real Estate. Chin has expressed concern about skyrocketing legal fees since the beginning of hearings. In December 2008, the judge asked Dewey to explain its billing practices, including why it should be paid $2.2 million for 20 days of work. The following month, he slashed that bill by 20 percent. Dewey later reduced its fees even further because of a lack of returns for WexTrust victims. In attempting to recover some of the defrauded funds, the receivership got into at least one battle over where it's going to recover that money. The Am Law Daily reported in February 2010 that a group of 77 commodity pool investors claimed Dewey seized a $17.6 million fund unrelated to the fraud in order to pay itself millions in legal fees. " The first month Coleman filed for charges in the millions and Chin was after him, and he hasn't stopped yet. CuriousResident on "Fiscal Emergency / Wextrust / Arcade Building" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/fiscal-emergency-wextrust-arcade-building/page/18#post-15442 Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:25:11 +0000 CuriousResident 15442@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ <a href="http://www.rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=8319&TM=47991.21">Coffee shop slated to open in Arcade Building Urban Leaf and Bean shooting for Christmas week opening</a>! ChrisHajer on "Fiscal Emergency / Wextrust / Arcade Building" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/fiscal-emergency-wextrust-arcade-building/page/17#post-14435 Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:52:30 +0000 ChrisHajer 14435@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ <a href="http://rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=7428" rel="nofollow">http://rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=7428</a> Former Arcade Building owner gets 13 years for fraud Subsidiary of Wextrust Capital bought Riverside landmark in 2004 <blockquote>Steven Byers, the former president and CEO of the company that once owned the historic Arcade Building in downtown Riverside, was sentenced to more than 13 years in federal prison on Monday for his part in a securities fraud scheme that bilked investors out of millions. </blockquote> KimJ on "Arcade Building Progress" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/arcade-building-progress#post-13375 Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:50:46 +0000 KimJ 13375@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Holy Cow, Drove by this morning.... The south fascade is BEAUTIFUL! spatny on "Arcade Building Progress" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/arcade-building-progress#post-13357 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:58:16 +0000 spatny 13357@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ The stucco is coming off! Maybe someone more computer savvy than I (Chris?) can take photos during the restoration process and post them here. Today they painstakingly removed the stucco on the south wall, where Grumpy's was. Some nice architectural details have been uncovered that will become visible when the work is completed. Isn't it wonderful to have new owners that want to do the kind of job that everyone can take pride in. Hats off to them. ChrisHajer on "Arcade Building Sale Closes" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/arcade-building-sale-closes#post-13329 Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:06:23 +0000 ChrisHajer 13329@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ <a href="http://www.rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=6455" rel="nofollow">http://www.rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=6455</a> "The next chapter in the history of the Arcade Building in downtown Riverside can start to be written now that a new owner has officially closed on the property." mrt on "Arcade Building" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/arcade-building-1#post-13078 Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:00:20 +0000 mrt 13078@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ This Arcade deal promises to be an improvement to Riverside - makes a blight in the middle of town actually a good thing for the Village and might, when finished, bring more people to town. I think it is great that they are trying for an 1871 restoration replete with the vertical chimneys. Best of luck to our new neighbors. And thank you to the Preservation people for helping this along. HRCollins on "Arcade Building" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/arcade-building-1#post-13077 Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:28:12 +0000 HRCollins 13077@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ I believe the application was approved. ChrisHajer on "Arcade Building" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/arcade-building-1#post-13076 Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:15:36 +0000 ChrisHajer 13076@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ <a href="http://www.cookcountyassessor.com/forms/clslb.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.cookcountyassessor.com/forms/clslb.pdf</a> Did the application for Class L designation get approved on June 7? ChrisHajer on "Arcade Building" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/arcade-building-1#post-13075 Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:13:47 +0000 ChrisHajer 13075@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ I think those are the Class L designation tax breaks that were discussed for the prior owners as well. <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/fiscal-emergency-wextrust-arcade-building/page/10#post-7002" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/fiscal-emergency-wextrust-arcade-building/page/10#post-7002</a> <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/fiscal-emergency-wextrust-arcade-building/page/11#post-7025" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/fiscal-emergency-wextrust-arcade-building/page/11#post-7025</a> <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/anti-tif-means-you-cannot-be-pro-class-l-for-arcade" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/anti-tif-means-you-cannot-be-pro-class-l-for-arcade</a> The Preservation Commission knows best about how this works.