Newsday (Nassau Edition) from Hempstead, New York • 112

NEWSOAY MARKETLINE: CU 1-900-346-1900 for tale qu instructions art on page 54. Yesterday 2,994.86 Down: 10.51 -nfiflflfll 1 0-DAY DOW 90nn TREND 2'900 TFTWTFMTWT EABs Judgment Day Watchdog Ousts Top Teamsters In NY Local By Kenneth C. Crowe STAFF WRITER Warning that union treasuries cant be treated as personal piggy banks, Frederick B. Lacey, the court-appointed overseer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, yesterday dumped the two top officers of Queens-based Teamsters Local 707 from the union. Lacey ruled that Local 707s president, James E.

McNeil, and secretary-treasurer, Michael J. Morris, violated the Teamsters constitution and their locals bylaws fay: Cashing in a union severance fund and distributing a total of $300,000 to themselves and other officers. Giving themselves two $100-a-week raises, one in 1987, the other in 1988. Giving expensive cars as gifts to former local president Anthony Distinti and former local vice president Nicholas Grancio when they retired in 1989. Morris received $68,904 in severance money, while McNeil got $45,368, the decision said.

In his decision, Lacey ordered McNeil and Morris removed as officers of the Woodside, Queens-based Local 707, which represents 4,000 drivers and warehouse workers in the city and on Long Island, suspended them from membership in the Teamsters for five years and immediately stripped them of their status as delegates to the Teamsters nominating convention in Orlando later this month. Grancio retired in order to avoid questioning by court-appointed investigations officer Charles Car-berry. Instead of handing Grancio a $25,000 Jeep when he retired, McNeil and Morris should have probed and acted against Grancio, Lacey said. He noted that Morris and McNeil knew or should have known that Grancio was linked to organized crime. Lacey said Grancios questionable background was exposed by extensive media reports identifying him as a soldier in the Colombo organized crime family and by the persistence of police in questioning him about the 1986 execution-style murder of Local 707 dissident member Bruno Bauer, a truck mechanic, of Garden City Park.

In a separate action, Car berry filed new charges against McNeil, Morris and Local 707 vice president Henry Saltalamachea for continuing to associate with Grancio in violation of a 1989 court consent decree, which bars Teamsters officials from having any relationship with organized crime figures. McNeil and Morris, through their spokesman Danny Frank, offered to answer questions next Thursday, but not before then. Hard-line bank wins battle with developers By Greg Steinmetz STAFF WRITES European American Bank has won a mqjor judgment against David and Jean Solomon, the developers of three midtown Manhattan skyscrapers. EAB sued the Solomons last year after they jnissed payments on a $75 million unsecured loan. They borrowed the money to help pay for real estate ventures.

It was not clear yesterday what the niondale-based bank will do to try to collect on the judgment, which is for the full amount of the loan. EAB could try to seize assets belonging to the couple, a move that would likely propel the Solomons into bankruptcy. The banks lawyers must have done it sought the judgment with a tactical motive because they must have seen some assets, said a Manhattan real estate lawyer, who asked not to be quoted by name. Another possibility would be a settlement. Warren Schad, chief financial officer of Solomon Equities, said, We are reviewing our options, but we still hope to reach a mutually acceptable settlement with EAB.

Bank spokesman Robert Kivel-son said EAB is considering what to do next. He declined to elaborate. In granting EABs motion for a summary judgment, state Supreme Court Justice Ralph Yach-nin rejected the Solomons claim that EAB gave them money not as a loan but as an investment. If it were an investment, the Solomons wouldnt have to pay it back. The bank said the award vindicates its aggressive approach to collections.

We think this sends a message in terms of what weve been doing, Kivelson said. We feel anyone who weve loaned money to should have to pay it back. EAB has shown no reluctance to go to court, suing such prominent borrowers as New York Post owner Peter Kalikow. The strategy has attracted criticism from borrowers, who complain that EAB is hurting the economy by being less understanding than other banks. The Solomon loan is believed to be EABs largest.

The Solomons used the money to help build 1585 Broadway and 750 Seventh according to court papers. The buildings have attracted tenants more slowly than planned. The couple also built the 53-story office tower at 712 Fifth Ave. Under former chairman Raymond Dempsey, EAB plunged headlong into Manhattan real estate. According to the National Thrift News, EAB had the highest percentage of soured commercial real estate loans of any bank in the country at the end of the first quarter! flmilajl Photo! Richard Laa The Solomons used their EAB loan to help construct 1585 Broadway, above, and 750 Seventh Ave.

BUSINESS NEWSDAY. FRIDAY. JUNE 7. 1991 Investors Beg for Executive Life Funds to pay the cost of keeping her severely retarded son in a private hospital. Lewin also was presented with an actuarys report indicating that as of Dec.

31, 1990, Executive Life was in far worse financial condition than it had reported. Total capital reported by Executive Life on that date was $528.4 million. In fact. Executive Life was in the red by $426.3 million, a $955 million discrepancy, the report said. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Los Angeles Investors crushed by the fall of Executive Life Insurance Co.

begged a judge yesterday to free money frozen by the regulators seizure of the junk-bond casualty, with some saying their lives were at stake. Superior Court Judge Kurt J. Lewin listened to a litany of horror stories, including disabled investors unable to pay for surgery and mothers who said they couldnt care for mentally retarded children. out policyholders of failed companies that were insolvent before Jan. 1, 1991.

California regulators seized the insurer in April because of its big losses from topheavy holdings in junk bonds, the risky debt securities widely used in the 1980s to finance corporate takeovers. It was the largest collapse of an insurer in U.S. history. The insurers New York subsidiary was seized by regulators a few days later. Executive Life death benefits are being paid in full under guidelines approved by Lewin, but annuity payments are being disbursed at only 70 percent of normal.

Payments promised under some other contracts have been cut completely. Lewin called the hearing to consider whether to keep those guidelines or establish new ones while waiting for California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi to find a buyer for Executive Life. Lewin also was scheduled to hear from bond dealers, who contend that holders of municipal guaranteed investment contracts issued by Executive Life should get the same treatment as private policyholders. The actuarys report is significant be-One woman even implied sh was con- ise Californias insurance guaranty udpringguicide to obtain a death benefit association is not required by law to bail.