Over the years, we've had several debates about how Fishman got the
Redevelopment rights and whether the got a sweetheart deal, an
inside deal, etc.
I've always taken the postion that not only did he not get any
special deal, but anyone could have walked into the bankruptcy court
and offered more than the $13 million Fishman did and walked away
with the rights.
I based that on the bankruptcy trustee having one goal in mind - to
raise as much money for creditors as he can. He would have taken
any bigger deal than Fishman offered, but no one offered.
I say some support for my assertion in the press today. Read below:
Bidder on Dwek property out $50G
Among the bulging ranks of bankers, investors and others who lost
money in Solomon Dwek's property empire collapse, few compare to
John Bardis.
Bardis, the owner of the Golden Bell Diner on Route 9 in Freehold
Township, didn't know Solomon Dwek from King Solomon. But Dwek's
tangle of litigation and bankruptcy has cost Bardis more than
$50,000 and left him with one big lesson learned: Bidder beware.
"The justice is dead, justice is sick," the stocky 56-year-old Greek
native said last week. "I spent money, a lot of time and money."
Bardis hadn't heard of Dwek until May 2006 when a state court judge
took control some 350 properties owed by Dwek after PNC Bank accused
him of bouncing a $25 million check.
Construction workers walked away from a half-dozen unfinished Dwek
building sites, FBI agents charged Dwek with bank fraud and a state
court judge took the first steps toward selling off Dwek's assets to
pay $350 million in claims of debt and fraud.
Stalled in mid-construction was a two-story 7,300-square-foot retail
building on Main Street in Farmingdale. It was only a shell of a
building with a plywood roof and a finished brick facing. But it had
ample parking and a house on the property. Bardis would drive by it
during his commutes to the diner, and he took a liking to it.
When he read in the Asbury Park Press the judge was going to sell
Dwek's holdings, Bardis moved. He arranged for a loan, offered $1.3
million for the property, borrowed the money for a 10 percent
deposit, and on the appointed day last December, showed up to bid in
court.
He almost didn't get it.
"Going once, going twice, gone," Superior Court Judge Alexander D.
Lehrer intoned after Bardis let another man outbid him for $1.45
million.
Bardis had immediate loser's remorse. He gingerly raised an index
finger, and that small motion caught the judge's eye.
"Not gone," Lehrer enthused.
Bardis bid another $15,000 and won both the auction and a court
order to buy the
property for $165,000 more than his initial offer. Lehrer told
Bardis congratulations, and asked if he would be able to stop at the
building to buy coffee. The closing date on the "Bell Plaza" was set
for February.
But days before that date, the building was "not gone" again.
On Feb. 9, PNC Bank and two other creditors forced Dwek into an
involuntary federal bankruptcy. The were frustrated with both the
pace of the sales in Lehrer's courtroom and their chances of getting
their money back under state law.
The move stopped the sale of the Farmingdale property and 11 others
ordered sold by Lehrer, but which hadn't closed. It also opened up
the possibility that someone else could buy the Farmingdale property
at a higher price from the bankruptcy court.
Even so, Bardis said he believed he would get it. When the
bankruptcy trustee twice asked him to pay to put up fencing around
the trash-strewn lot that had become a hangout for local teenage
skateboarders, he said he did, at an expense of about $3,400. Bardis
said he felt the request showed Dwek's court-appointed bankruptcy
trustee, Charles A. Stanziale Jr., was treating him as the owner.
Finally, the bankruptcy court scheduled a hearing on the sale for
last Tuesday, and it invited any higher and better offers on the
property. Then, the day before Thanksgiving, Bardis learned another
bidder was interested.
At court in Trenton Nov. 27, an unhappy Bardis watched as his lawyer
and nephew,
Constantine Bardis, battle for the property again, this time against
Hall Construction Co. of Farmingdale.
Within seconds, and in $10,000 increments, Hall bid the property to
$1.585 million, out of Bardis' range.
"It went up $120,000," Stanziale noted after the hearing. It's his
job to get the most possible money at from Dwek's assets and to
return it to Dwek's creditors.
The sale also makes it likely that the property, now an abandoned
eyesore on
Farmingdale's Main Street, will be open for business. Mark D. Hall,
president of Hall Construction, could not be reached for comment.
"We're so glad that someone will take it and finish the project,"
said Ken Wester, the co-owner of Woody's Roadside Tavern, which is
across the street from the property.
But it won't be John Bardis, who lost a-year-and-a-half of effort
and more than
$50,000. That included a loan commitment fee, interest on his
$146,500 down payment, and various legal fees.
He will get back his deposit
now held in escrow for almost a year
and the fencing charges, Constantine Bardis said.
"I am a proud American, and I respect the law, but I've been screwed
by thelegal
system," John Bardis said.
Bankruptcy lawyers familiar with the Dwek matter disagreed last week
over whether the property was destined to be auctioned again once
Dwek moved to bankruptcy court. One lawyer said that Bardis could
have opposed the auction and argued that he already had a legitimate
contract.
But Timothy P. Neumann, Dwek's lawyer, said that there was no way
the property would have been sold to Bardis in bankruptcy court
without other bidders being offered a chance to increase the sale
price.
Bardis is far from destitute. He immigrated to the United States in
1977 and started work as a dishwasher at another Greek diner in
Clark. He and his family now owns two diners, and he's still looking
to buy more property
maybe even Dwek property.
"No, I'm not ruling it out," he said. "If the price is right, why
not?"
More than 250 of Dwek's properties are available now. In February,
Stanziale said in an interview Tuesday, he expects to rent a hall at
an area hotel and hold a "cattle call" auction to sell 70 or more of
Dwek's houses.
The bidding rules for that auction haven't been set. But one thing
is clear, Neumann said: "It's the rules of the game: When you bid at
auctions, you don't always win."
James W. Prado Roberts: (732) 643-4223; or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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