Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 6, 1990 TAG: 9007060215
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The Treasury Department's Office of Thrift Supervision alleged that the younger Bush, as a director of Silverado Banking, Savings and Loan Association in Denver, voted to approve loans or business deals totaling more than $100 million with a business partner, Bill L. Walters.
Bush, in a reply, denied he had violated his duty as a director and either denied the specific charges or said he "lacks sufficient present knowledge or information to form a belief as to the allegations."
Both the administrative charges, filed in February, and the reply, filed a month later, were made public Thursday for the first time under a new thrift office policy. The House Banking Committee had obtained and released a preliminary draft of the charges in June.
Separately, the thrift office announced it was seeking a record $24 million in restitution and civil penalties from Thomas Spiegel, the former chairman of Columbia Savings and Loan Association of Beverly Hills, Calif.
The office alleged that Spiegel spent millions of the thrift's deposits on limousines, corporate jets, luxury condominiums in resort areas, trips to Europe for himself, $7,000 in tickets to a Michael Jackson concert and a $55,000 gun collection, including Uzi submachine guns.
An administrative law judge is scheduled to hear the Bush case Sept. 25 in Denver before making a recommendation to thrift office Director Timothy Ryan.
Bush served on the board of Silverado from August 1985 to August 1988. It collapsed in December 1988 at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $1 billion. He has denied any wrongdoing.
The charges said Bush, as a director of Silverado, voted to approve loans totaling $45 million to Walters, an investor in and lender to Bush's oil exploration company, JNB Exploration Co. He also voted to approve Silverado's purchase of $58.4 million in properties from Walters, the document said.
The thrift office also said Bush inadequately disclosed his ties to Kenneth Good, a developer who defaulted on loans to Silverado.
Ryan will decide after reviewing the administrative hearing on the case whether or not to issue a cease-and-desist order against Bush prohibiting him from violating regulations in the future.
The agency is not seeking any more serious penalties, such as financial restitution or banning Bush from working for a bank or S&L.
by CNB