Biz/Tech
(2009-09-15)
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SEATTLE, WA
(KPLU) -
A $10-million-dollar mansion in Medina, a new Rolls Royce and two diamond rings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars - those are among the assets that 84-year-old Michael R. Mastro and his wife still possess. But it's not clear to what extent they control them. People attending a hearing at the federal courthouse in Seattle said it raised more questions than it answered.
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About 75 people crowded in for the first "meeting of creditors" since Mastro was forced into bankruptcy. Most were lawyers, and many said their clients didn't get timely notice and couldn't attend. But a handful did make it. Some spoke afterward on the courthouse steps, on condition of anonymity. Even though they'll likely lose everything they invested, one older couple from Bellevue said they sympathize with Mastro, who they call Mike. For years, he paid investors in the "friends and family" fund as much as twelve percent annual interest, even during the downturn.
"It's very upsetting. I mean I think he got squeezed and - he was always paying us right on time."
Her husband agrees that Mastro is not a crook, he's just a casualty of the real estate crash.
"He's an honorable guy and he just got squeezed by the times."
Among the revelations at the federal hearing was that ownership of Mastro's Rolls Royce was recently transferred to a trust in Belize and perhaps the Mastro's home as well. That's a detail that caused some to leave the hearing angry - saying they think he was trying to hide his assets to avoid paying off debts.
Mastro told the court he was just trying to preserve his estate and keep the government from getting it.
The next hearing on this half a billion-dollar bankruptcy takes place October 28th.
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