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The Avoidance Game: Mauro Padilla Arrested by F.B.I
FIRST NATIONAL BANK of EDINBURG, Texas is in a QUESTIONABLE POSITION with the current LAWSUIT as an alleged CONSPIRED PARTNER of convicted felon Mauro Padilla, defrauding multiple investors in various developments, Maria del Rosario Padilla was the loan guarantor and bookkeeper. Mauro Padilla: “I am guilty, and I agree that the evidence proves my guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” Facing federal prison time sentence on November 17, 2010.
Depositions that were scheduled well in advance in the “Tundra Village Scandal” for certain executives of First National Bank did not take place this week as previously scheduled. No one showed up from First National, not even their attorney.
Their reason: they allegedly had scheduling conflicts.
However, rather than just reschedule the depositions to fit into their schedules, First National has now filed motions seeking to avoid having their executives being deposed at all. First National previously ignored two properly filed notices of deposition, and then finally voluntarily agreed to have their executives attend depositions this week when Plaintiffs filed a motion to compel them to do so.
In what appears to be nothing more than a transparent avoidance tactic, defendants Robert Gandy III (First National CEO/President) and Michael V. McCarthy (First National Chief Lending Officer) are now maneuvering to escape being deposed altogether. The “Tundra Village Scandal” involves First National Bank, convicted felon Mauro Padilla, and Fidelity National Title Insurance, along with other defendants, being sued for various claims arising from the Tundra Village Townhomes fiasco, including claims for real estate fraud, conspiracy, breach of contract, and negligence.
These avoidance tactics lead many involved in this litigation to believe First National greatly fears what will be revealed by these executives under oath, and what might be confirmed regarding previous damaging statements made by former First National Branch President Mike Maldonado during his prior depositions.
What else is there about these loans and transactions they are expending great effort and expense to avoid disclosing? Are they trying to avoid being asked if they knew about felon Mauro Padilla’s fraud and schemes? Are they trying to hide proof that once they became aware of Padilla’s illegal schemes the bank then took steps to cover it up?
Many have questioned the highly unusual loan practices by First National when they kept funding five separate developments undertaken by felon Padilla (starting in 2006) when at least four projects still have no final plat map in place (four years later). Wasn’t anyone overseeing these loans and projects before handing out millions in loan draws over and over again to felon Padilla?
Additionally, information has surfaced showing that, after First National foreclosed on the Tundra Village project, the bank gave 100% financing to a small developer in Edinburg, Texas, allowing for the acquisition and completion of the project. Oddly, the project is located over 200 miles away from the buyer’s home city of Edinburg.
The short-term 100% loan, which many consider unusually risky in today’s lending environment, is only 11 months from maturing and yet the project remains untouched — even despite First National also giving this new developer a $6,000,000 line of credit to finish the project (on top of the $9,300,000 acquisition price which was 100% financed). Since real estate values would never support the sale of the unfinished Tundra Village four-plexes at values high enough to repay the bank’s $15,300,000 exposure (plus interest), many believe this transaction was just a ploy simply to remove the project from First National’s books with no legitimate expectation of loan and interest repayment.
We wonder how the bank’s shareholders would feel about this if deposition testimony proves this to be true? Is this another reason the First National executives are ducking and running for cover?
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