ATTENTION: VICTIMS OF COLONIAL REALTY PONZI SCHEME!

FRANKSMITHSAYSNB EDITORIAL:

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If you, or someone you know was a victim of the Colonial Realty fraud in the 1980's, we need to hear from you.

We have an Alderman who is Majority Leader of the city council who is frequently quoted as downplaying the entire Colonial Realty fraud as appearing to him to be no big deal, and something from the past, that shouldn't really matter, but while Mr. Sherwood was still wearing diapers, 100's and even 1,000's of investors lost an estimated $350 million in investments in Colonial Realty offerings.

Mr. Sherwood is also quoted as saying he doesn't understand why the appointment of William Candelori is being so scrutinized, and likened the appointment of Dr. Candelori to manage over $100 million of your money, with the city doing business with the Tomasso Group. But I fail to make the connection between turning over control of an excess of $100 million of taxpayer money and doing business with one of New Britain's oldest and largest employer's?

And as far as it being old news, as Sherwood would like you to believe, what about the ongoing case regarding the former Mashantucket Chairman? "As reported today in The Herald: It was recently learned Dr. Candelori had been named as a current defendant in an alleged fraud case involving Sovereign Bank v. Michael Thomas, former chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council"(Dems want inquiry into Mattabassett lobbying, Sunday, November 29, 2009 by James Craven).

This ongoing case even gets more interesting when you consider "The Day" of New London reported it involves some sort of bribery scheme involving the chairman of the indian tribe: "The bank, according to Thomas, made the loan "with the intent to influence or reward an agent of an Indian tribal government" in violation of federal statutes. Thomas doesn't use the word bribe, but the statute he cites does.

And since the loan was made "against public policy" and with the intent to "violate the law," the loan documents are void, the argument goes, and therefore Thomas cannot be compelled to pay the money back" (Loan, bribe or defense strategy? by: Collins David The Day, 04/12/2009).

Then there is another issue that no one else seems to be reporting on, and that is Dr. Candelori's delinquencies in paying his own real estate taxes. As I have previously reported, I have confirmed with the city tax collector that Dr. Candelori paid his 2008 real estate taxes in July 2009 (one year late) and as of November 16th, still owed just under $2,500 in 2009 real estate taxes that were due July 1, 2009. For whatever reason Dr. Candelori has been either unwilling or unable to pay his own taxes, this should raise serious concerns about the character of any individual about to be given control of over $100 million of your money.

Then we have the city charter to consider: Section 7-1 (h) of the charter provides that the Mayor may initiate proceedings to remove a member of any appointive board or Commission for any of the following reasons:...(3) conviction of a felony, (4) conviction of a misdemeanor which would undermine the public confidence in the member's ability to perform the duties of office. Since we know from previous reports, that Dr. Candelori has pleaded guilty in federal court to federal income tax evasion, for reportedly failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars of income, how can anyone be serious about appointing such a person to such a high level position? (According to the New York Times: "...William P. Candelori, a former state lawmaker and executive at Colonial, pleaded guilty to Federal tax evasion for failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income." (2 Partners In Investment Plead Guilty, The New York Times, Jume 9, 1993).

The Securities and Exchange Commission found it necessary to bar Dr. Candelori from associating with anyone involved in the securities or investment business, but the self-proclaimed "protector of the public pocketbook," Phil Sherwood, seems to believe the good doctor is fit to handle over $100 million of our investments????

as reported by the SEC:

"WILLIAM CANDELORI BARRED"

"The Commission announced the entry of an order instituting administrative proceedings against William P. Candelori (Candelori) and the simultaneous acceptance of his offer of settlement. Candelori is a former associated person of Colonial Equities Corp., a broker-dealer previously registered with the Commission. The Order bars Candelori from association with any broker, dealer, municipal securities dealer, investment adviser or investment company.

The Commission found that on August 22 the Honorable T. F. Gilroy Daly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut enjoined Candelori from further violations of certain registration and antifraud provisions of the securities laws. The complaint, filed on March 9 against Candelori and six others, alleges violations of several antifraud and securities registration provisions of the federal securities laws in connection with a fraudulent unregistered public offering by Colonial Realty Company of 1200 limited partnership units in the Colonial Constitution Limited Partnership during 1989 and 1990. Candelori consented to the injunctive order without admitting or denying the complaint's allegations. The administrative order against Candelori was also based on his prior criminal conviction. (rel. 34-36170)."

The mayor did the right thing in protecting the public interest by vetoing this appointment. I for one, am tired of reading quotes from Phil Sherwood downplaying the impact Colonial Realty had on its investors. If you lost money in that scheme, or know someone who did, or simply are opposed to Sherwood's promise to ram through an override of the mayor's veto, come to the council meeting on Wednesday, December 9th, at 7:00 PM, and let the council know about your opposition to this appointment.