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Pastimes : The Hot Button Questions:- Money, Banks, & the Economy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Chispas who wrote (341)	8/18/2003 3:45:34 AM
From: Chispas	Respond to of 1417

Don't answer if you're uncertain... I spent a lot of my military career (Screeming Eagle) with those fine people in South Carolina...(Ft. Jackson at Columbia). Just have an empathy for S.C. Where else does anyone say "Huse" for "House"...

To: Chispas who wrote (341)	8/18/2003 4:05:52 AM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1417

Is this the "start" of something bigger ? Interesting question. Trouble is, our older citizens losing their life savings is a common historical problem. I remember reading U.S. Grants biography that was written after he lost his fortune. The company involved was "Grant and Ward" and the villain fingered for the blame was Ferdinand Ward. This is what he had to say about the matter.. lib.siu.edu As we grow older, and start losing our abilities, and hopefully aquiring wealth, it's only natural we become targets of unscrupulous business people. It's a good idea to have a diversified plan for saving I think. I would not just trust our politicians or the fiat money supply to store my savings as is. I have paid into retirement pension funds but I do not really expect to see any of that money. I hope the residents of Liberty SC get at least some of their money back.

To: Chispas who wrote (341)	8/19/2003 2:21:15 PM
From: donk1948	Respond to of 1417

HomeGold CEO landed on his feet (Maybe) greenvilleonline.com Sheppard became president and CEO of HomeGold in May 2000 after the merger of his private HomeSense with HomeGold Financial. The merged companies kept HomeGold's name and its status as a publicly traded company. According to documents filed with the SEC, he resigned his HomeGold positions prior to the end of 2002, and formed Emmco LLC as of Dec. 31. He was listed as HomeGold's largest individual shareholder with more than 6 million shares of the company's common stock. The stock hasn't traded since HomeGold filed for Chapter 11, with its last trade at $0.005 per share. Sheppard was paid $451,923 in salary and a $900,000 bonus by HomeGold in 2001, according to SEC documents. HomeGold was a specialty finance company whose primary line of business was originating, selling and servicing sub-prime first- and second-lien residential mortgages. Its business was funded through loans from Carolina Investors, which sold notes and subordinated debentures to its depositors, according to SEC documents. On Dec. 31, HomeGold completed the sale of the majority of the assets of its retail mortgage division to Emmco. The purchase price consisted of $150,000 cash, a $35 million, 8 percent cumulative preferred capital interest in Emmco and a non-voting economic interest in the company, according to SEC documents. In connection with the purchase, R-Doc, another company organized by Sheppard, borrowed $5 million from HomeGold and also purchased from HomeGold a Lexington office and vacant land for approximately $3.4 million, according to SEC documents. R-Doc's promissory note of $8.4 million is secured by the company's assets, except the acquired real estate, the documents show. The FBI, the Department of Justice and the SEC have joined the state's investigation of the collapse of Carolina Investors to help determine if civil and criminal laws were broken, according to state Attorney General Henry McMaster. thecarolinachannel.com The man who sold his company to HomeGold and was rewarded with an appointment as HomeGold's CEO did not stay long. By the end of 2002, Ronald Sheppard stepped down as CEO and planned to buy back the retail mortgage division he had sold to the company two years before. Sheppard formed a company, called Emmco, to buy HomeGold's retail mortgage division. Just a year before, HomeGold had valued its retail mortgage vision at between $135 million and $170 million. However, when it sold the division to Sheppard in late 2002, Sheppard only paid $150,000. Further, HomeGold loaned Sheppard $5 million and forgave an earlier $5 million loan. HomeGold maintained an interest in the future profits of Sheppard's new company. Within three months, HomeGold collapsed. On March 24, 2003, Carolina Investors closed its doors and told customers HomeGold did not have the funds to cover their investments. On March 31, HomeGold announced it had filed for reorganization, better known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Two weeks later, Carolina Investors did the same thing.