Flamboyant St. Croix lawyer Lee Rohn has signed on to help more than 50 people who face the prospect of losing their homes and property because of bankruptcy proceedings.
The plight of residents living in the Estate Diamond area was brought to light earlier this week at a Senate Finance Committee hearing chaired by Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen. Some 59 people who own homes and land discovered that the company they were making payments to, Diamond Industrial Corp., had filed for bankruptcy in February because it defaulted on its $405,000 loan balance.
But what infuriated Hansen even more, and is spurring Rohn and attorney Amelia Joseph to call for a criminal investigation into DIC and its owner David Hayes, is that last September a Territorial Court judge approved DIC and a trust company to sell the land in question in an auction. But Hansen, Rohn and Joseph contend that Hayes never told any of the property owners that the land had been foreclosed or that he had filed for bankruptcy. In one case, they say he sold a property last month without any disclosure.
Hayes couldn’t be reached for comment on Friday.
"He has a duty before he sells the land to tell people the land has been foreclosed," Rohn said. "This is dyed-in-the-wool fraud."
Hansen, meanwhile, has written V.I. Attorney General Iver Stridiron requesting that he open a criminal investigation into the operations of DIC and Hayes. But at a press conference on Friday, she said Stridiron had not responded.
"How come he hasn’t done anything," Joseph asked. "I don’t think he should wait until he gets a request."
Joe Lanclos has a lease-to-purchase agreement on 19 acres at the corner of the Melvin Evans Highway and West Airport Road. The bankruptcy situation was unknown to him, even after speaking to Hayes on a number of occasions, he said. The problem for Lanclos is that he is trying to develop the land, in which he has already invested $1 million, but investors are now unsure if they want to put money into the property.
"It’s put the brakes on big time on money from investors," Lanclos said. "I’ll continue with my construction, but it is making it harder for me with investors."
Rohn and Joseph urged the property owners not to make their payments to DIC but rather set up an escrow account.
"Don’t spend another red dime paying David Hayes or his company," Rohn said.
