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Incapacitated Landlord Late On $4.1 Million Restitution

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By THOMAS W.  KRAUSE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 10, 2007

Previous Coverage: Injured Landlord's Mother, Attorney At Odds

TAMPA - As multimillionaire real estate investor Steven Green remains incapacitated in a New York hospital, a team of managers at his company are working feverishly to prevent the company from collapsing before the entrepreneur can pay more than $4 million in court-ordered restitution, according to testimony at a federal hearing this morning.

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   Steven Green

U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew said she would allow Green more time to pay but wanted a strict payment plan to begin immediately.

Because of Green's medical condition, Bucklew also reset the date for Green to report to prison. Now, he is scheduled to report July 3.

"We'll see where we are then," Bucklew said.

Green, once one of Tampa's worst code violators for low-income housing, was sentenced in February on tax evasion and fraud charges. He was ordered to serve 33 months in prison followed by three years of probation. He also was ordered to repay more than $4 million in restitution to Wells Fargo Bank.

He had defrauded the bank by using a false Social Security number on a $9 million mortgage application for the once-condemned Amberwood apartment complex on North Florida Avenue.

After passing sentence, Bucklew had given Green time to get his affairs in order before reporting to prison.

In May, he was hit by a car outside a New York nightclub. He has been hospitalized since the accident with what his attorneys describe as extensive brain injuries that prevent him from making his own decisions. He was in a coma for 40 days and remains unable to care for himself, according to his attorneys and court documents.

This morning, Bucklew said Green must pay an overdue $10,000 fine by the end of the week. The fine was supposed to have been paid in February. Bucklew said she was surprised to hear that it was not.

"Had I known," she said, "I would have taken Mr. Green into custody, but I did not know. I guess that's shame on me."

Green's attorney, Edward M. Kratt, asked that the payment schedule for the $4,112,675 in restitution begin in February.

Christopher Skey, a lawyer for Wells Fargo Bank, said the longer he has to wait, the less confident he is that his clients will see restitution.

"I understand that a $4.1 million check isn't going to arrive in the mail," he said. "But I think there are significant assets that can be put forward to satisfy this debt quickly and efficiently."

Bucklew said Green must pay $100,000 by Dec. 31. By Feb 1, another $112,675 is due. On March 3 and April 4, Green must make payments of $500,000, and he must pay the remaining $3 million by May 2.

The financial manager for Green Realty Development, Auston Dimitry, testified this morning that Green acted as chief operating officer and chief financial office for the company. It was pretty much a "one-man show," he said.

After Green's accident, Dimitry said, he and a team of managers put together a quick 90-day plan to help avoid a "fire sale" of properties. Many of the company's loan holders were worried about their investments.

When it became apparent Green was not going to take over the company again, the managers hired a trust company to create a long-term plan for selling assets and paying Green's debts.

Dimitry said none of the company's $11 million in assets is liquid. Several properties, however, are in the sales process. That includes company properties as well as Green's million-dollar homes in New York and Nantucket Island, Mass.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Mosakowski asked Dimitry why he and other managers got a pay raise and restitution had not been paid.

Dimitry said the managers worked on a relatively small salary but made bonuses. Now that bonuses are not possible, they reconfigured their salaries. Still, he said, he will make about one-third less compensation than he expected under the original deal, and he is performing significantly more work. Ultimately, he said, the managers are "planning our own demise" as they sell off the company's assets.

Green's mother, Mary Green, is in control of the company. She takes some money for weekly groceries and travel to and from the hospital but is not taking a salary, Dimitry said.

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

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