I met Monty Hundley (pictured at right) when I working as assistant controller at Loews Paradise Island Hotel and Villas in the Bahamas. Monty was a dynamic young guy, about the same age as I, who was at the time interviewing for the open position of Managing Director. Already a talented resort manager well before age 30, he began his working career as a CPA and later gained significant management experience in Nevada’s gaming resorts. Interviewing well, Monty easily won the managing director job at Paradise Island at the age of 29.
That was back in 1974. Hundley quickly gained the respect and admiration of the resort’s staff, the islanders, and Loews Corporation executives. He was a man on the way up. Some might have considered him brash, flamboyant, and cocksure, but they could never argue with his results. Personally, I enjoyed working with him and for him for two years. Yeah, we had our share of disagreements, including one that impelled him to offer to “take [me] down to the beach and kick [my] ass.” Whatever inspired that was fleeting, but probably justifed in view of my confrontational nature. We got over it. I never lost respect for Monty, his achievements, and his ability. Since last seeing Monty in 1976, I have had no further contact with him; nevertheless, I was certain that Monty would succeed in whatever he undertook—I knew that he would always be on top of the heap.
With that in mind, it was inconceivable to me that Monty’s life would ever turn sour. Therefore, it was with shocked dismay that I learned of his indictment for bank fraud sometime in 2003. I followed his case as closely as I could from what I could piece together on the Web. Ultimately, I was further saddened to learn that, in 2005, Monty was sentenced to eight years in prison for bank fraud and tax evasion. The heap he was on top of was a heap of trouble.
Alas, this is the story of a good life gone bad.
Back in 1974, Monty took over the helm of a resort in decline. The departing managing director had emphasized cost cutting, resulting in a moribund operation replete with staff morale problems. Hundley turned that all around—quickly, too. At the time, I was too young and naive to realize what others quickly recognized—that he was a resort marketing and management genius. I benefited personally from my association with Monty Hundley. He supported me, he promoted me, he gave me a better salary than the home office in New York wanted me to have, and he taught me a helluva lot about the hotel business and about business in general.
In late 1975 or early 1976, Hundley was promoted to a regional management position in the Loews home office in New York. By that time, I had been promoted to controller (Monty being instrumental in my promotion) but I was rapidly becoming disenchanted with my future prospects in the wake of Monty’s departure. Both of my supervisors—locally, the new managing director and in New York, the regional controller—were heavy handed, condescending boors who tended to expect lots and give little. Besides, I had “island fever.” I had been on “the rock” for almost five years. I was ready to return to United States. A back spasm laid me up for a few days, giving me the time I needed to think about it. In a rather stupid and immature move, I summarily resigned in April 1976 and left the island shortly thereafter. (It was later divulged that Monty had campaigned for and had received tacit approval for my transfer to Monte Carlo, but that’s another story completely!) Not long after I left the Bahamas, I ran into Monty once more, in New York. I haven’t seen him since then.
Through the grapevine, I later learned that Monty had made a lot of money on Resorts International stock shortly before gambling was legalized in Atlantic City, where Resorts either had built or was planning to build gambling resorts. Resorts International was the landlord for Paradise Island, and its genesis in the period following Castro’s takeover in Cuba was rumored to have ties to organized crime. Back then, it was known as the Mary Carter Paint Company. Later, it became a legitimate enterprise that was ultimately sold to Merv Griffin, who subsequently sold it to Coca Cola. At the Paradise Island complex, we had a close relationship with Resorts, and through that relationship, no doubt, Monty was attuned to the potential run-up in the stock.
Later, probably around 1980, I heard that Hundley had purchased a hotel in New York City. That was the last I heard about him and his exploits for over two decades. By 1980, I had changed careers, I was busy getting some formal education in my new field, and I had lost interest in the hotel and resort business. It wasn’t until more than 20 years later that my curiosity drove me to search the Web for information about Monty. Unfortunately, I gleaned the most information about him from a U.S. Department of Justice press release.
Monty and I were like two ships passing in the night. My ship was a slow, rusty freighter, while Monty’s was a luxury cruise on the Titanic. While I was busy becoming a born-again geek, life in the fast lane had sucked Monty into a vortex that would ultimately lead to his downfall. What caused this dynamic, brilliant hotel executive to go sour? Was it the same sort of greed that brought down Enron and Worldcom? Was he indeed the “mastermind” as the DOJ press release states, or did he succumb to the greedy wishes of his partners? Were the fraudulent schemes pursued out of desperation, or did the partners develop them over time? We might never know the answers to these questions. Speculate about them if you wish after reading my synopsis of the court’s findings.
Hundley formed a partnership with Stanley Tollman, another hotel entrepreneur. Through the 1980s and 1990s, Tollman-Hundley Hotels grew to own one hundred hotels in the United States. Somewhere along the line, Hundley and others became owners of Days Inn of America. The expansion was funded largely by bank loans, many of which were personally guaranteed by Tollman and Hundley. Some of these loans fell into default, resulting in a restructuring of the debt—over $100 million—in the early 1990s. Tollman and Hundley signed deficiency notes that made them personally liable for the loans. Around the same time, they sold Days Inn of America to Hospitality Franchise Systems (HFS), which later became Cendant. As a condition of an agreement related to the sale, HFS issued them more than a million shares of stock between 1993 and 1995, which Hundley and Tollman subsequently sold. At this point, one would think that Hundley and Tollman could have used the proceeds to repay the personally guaranteed loans. Alas, they didn’t. Instead, they concocted a plan to systematically defraud their creditors.
Along with other principals of their company (or companies), Hundley and Tollman devised an elaborate fraud. According to the Department of Justice press release of February 4, 2004, “[Hundley and Tollman] (1) falsely represented to Hundley and Tollman’s creditors that Hundley and Tollman were broke and lacked the means to repay their debts; and (2) duped the creditors into selling those debts, at a steep discount, to purportedly unrelated third parties who, the evidence showed, were in fact sham entities controlled and funded by Hundley and Tollman.”
Hundley and Tollman could have used $100 million derived from the sale of HFS stock to pay off their debts, which would have allowed this story to conclude on a happier note. However, instead, Hundley and Tollman convinced the bankers to whom they owed $100 million that they were broke. The financial statements they employed to make such a convincing case omitted several major assets, including not only the $100 million HFS stock sale proceeds but also Tollman’s multimillion dollar homes in Palm Beach and on Park Avenue in Manhattan, Hundley’s multimillion dollar house in Bedford, New York, and Tollman and Hundley’s interest in various businesses they controlled.
Then, to make a long story short, Hundley and Tollman, along with several others who were involved with the company (and who were also indicted), convinced the banks that they had found a group of “European investors” who were willing to purchase the debt at a deep discount, mere pennies on the dollar. The group of companies turned out to be owned by Hundley and Tollman. Having convinced the banks that they were bankrupt, an intermediary engaged by Hundley and Tollman presented this “offer you can’t refuse” on behalf of the “European investors” to the banks, which was accepted. Hundley and Tollman apparently then used some of the cash obtained in the HFS stock sale to buy the discounted loans through their secretly owned companies.
In addition to the bank fraud just described, Hundley was convicted of several personal tax charges, including tax evasion and filing false returns. The evidence showed that Hundley had filed no tax returns from at least 1974 until the start of the investigation in 1996. Apparently, once he knew he was under investigation, he filed returns for the years 1995 through 1999, but omitted disclosing a secret bank account in the Channel Islands.
In April of 2005, Monty Hundley was sentenced to 96 months in prison for defrauding a dozen creditors out of $100 million and defrauding the IRS out of taxes on more than $29 million of income. Other associates were sentenced as well, but Tollman fled the country and remains a fugitive. Hundley was also ordered to pay $106 million in restitution to the creditors, and $5.4 million to the IRS. A $44 million forfeiture order was entered against him, which allows to government to seize certain assets. Initially, Hundley was ordered to surrender his interest in a multi-million dollar company he controlled through a revocable trust in the name of his son.
I liked Monty, who had a lasting and positive impact on my life. He was a bright young guy with a bright future who would have succeeded in whatever endeavors he might have engaged in had he taken the legitimate route. What brought him to take the low road? We will probably never know, unless he uses his prison time to write a book about his rise and fall. Did he deserve this punishment? That is not for me to decide. The point is probably moot, anyway. He has been tried and convicted. Unless appeals are forthcoming, he is going to jail for a long time. As well, I fear that the investigation, the lengthy trial, and now probably eight years in prison—in all, 17 years of hell, coupled with losing much if not all of his wealth—might conspire to transform this once ferocious tiger into a tired old cat. I hope not. I am pulling for him to maintain his strong spirit; I am betting that even at the age of 68, at which time he will once again be a free man, he will still have the drive to come out on top.
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Tags: Monty Hundley, Stanley Tollman, THH, Tollman-Hundley
After more investigation I found that out to be true. He certainly knew what was going on the whole time. Looks like he just took the fall for the family. I’ve always thought highly of the man, truthfully. Someone said he’s not allowed in the U.S., however truthful that may be, he still visits the ANA office once or twice a year.
It has been very interesting to read about all of your responses and thoughts about this family’s ordeal. I understand how what has happened has affected so many individuals and there familys. But did you think how it has affected their grandchildren? The eldest has had a terrible time as did her brother and the rest of their cousins. To correct one blogger above - Toni’s name is Antoinette not Antonia. Her divorce from Francis was due to the fact that they had grown apart - her marrige to Gavin - on their own accord - and they are very much in love and happy. Wynn now lives in SA and is fine. As for everyone else - they are dealing with things as they come. There is no thought to publish a book about their life/ordeal -you seem to have done a pretty good job on it yourself.
TNT - With regards to Monty - I met him, his wife and their youngest son several times - he was nice guy - I believe his younges was called Sebastian.
TTAnaheim - thanks for your kind works about Brett.
Best wishes to you all.
G-d Bless.
” But did you think how it has affected their grandchildren? ”
The question should really be , did THEY think about how it would affect their grandchildren ????!!!!!!!!
Brett Tollman is a legend if only for being the chief architect in the departure of Amir Nadel, possibly the worst CIO of all time! Huzzah!
Tony Sypa — John Severini was sacked last year, on his birthday. He really was a weenie and deserved to get the ax.
Interestingly enough, one needs a microscope to find any donation from the Tollmans for Nelson Mandela’s birthday celebrations at Hyde Park in London this forthcoming Friday, which is advertised as a big charity event. Neither Trafalgar Tours or Insight Vacations that organise tours to South Africa are listed as sponsors:
http://www.46664.com/7
I have no doubt that they tacitly supported apartheid, their lavish lifestyle is due to the suffering of 80% of South Africa’s population that didn’t even have access to the city but was confined to townships and reservations, was treated as a transient population, as non-humans with no civil rights in their own country.
Did the Tollmans care? Do they care that their selfishness and support given to the neo-liberalism, their friendship with Thatcher who has destroyed the United Kingdom and the rest of the world, has contributed to violence, high unemployment, deterioration of the environment, poverty in the developing world, as they have exploited South Africa to the maximum then moved elsewhere to do the same thing, so that they could act as aristocrats that they are not?
Humans are vicious beings and it’s all because of greed and thirst for power.
Welcome to the real world Ubuntu - sorry to say the reality is that the entire Us economy and indeed the greater world of commerce is run on those lines. The big corporations, lobbyists and politicians all share the same bed. Government too! That’s how it is - it’s naive to be disillusioned - much as it is an admirable quality.
Brett and Gavin once pushed me into a puddle!
If they pushed you into the puddle, they have already paid for it by being “pushed” behind the bars, where they shared the space with likewise individuals. However, they should have been punished 1000 times fold for they have inflicted injustice and suffering on thousands of people. I can imagine the moment of their agony, fighting with the dark forces which they are part of, lonely as the evil people eventually become outcasts.
I remember how their dark energy was ruining my soul. However, my positive side didn’t allow those perverts corrupt my soul. I put them right into the place where they belong and reminded them with contempt of their humble origins.
unbutu , the tollmans left south africa just before the apartheid , so maybe in a world where people don’t always look for the bad in every single situation and don’t jump to conclusions on false information , the tollmans maybe and only maybe left S.A because they were against it?
that is something to think about…
MO…..you are rather clueless. ‘the Tollmans left South Africa just before the apartheid’ What does this mean? You clearly have absolutely no idea about South Africa. The Tollmans’ ran great hotels in the 70s in South Africa and employed many lazy locals. Those same are probably now carjacking with all their spare time !!!! Having said that , apartheid only postponed for 50 years the inevitable destruction of a First World industrial country.
Je vais parler en francais car malheuresement , my english is very bad . J’ai lu un peu pres tout vos post , et j’ai connu cette famille il y a bien longtemps . Oui il etait riche , oui ils ont peut etre fraude quelque taxes ? mais es ce que leur histoire est si interressante pour que vous passez maintenant depuis deux ans a ecrire sur eux? Quel homme important aujourd’hui n’a pas fraude? Les hommes riches aujourd’hui ont toujours quelque chose cache dans le placard mais les tollman ont tres peu compare a d’autre . Pour monsieur HJ qui pretend tres bien les connaitre , les tollman on fuit dans les annes 70 , precisement au debut et sont alles a Londres ruine . Vous n’allez pas comme meme les blamer de l’Apartheid si ils ont quitte le pays en laissant leur fortune derriere? sinon c’est la porte ouverte a tout , et c’est parti pour la 1ere ainsi que la 2nde guerre mondial , hiroshima , auschwitz , soyons fou meme le massacre du Rwanda il ne faut pas etre debile non plus . enfin vous devez surement valoir mieux que ca , meme si vous ne le montrez pas en ecrivant depuis maintenant 2 ans sur une famille qui sans doute en a rien a claquer de vous et de votre famille, vous y pensez ca? vous croyez que ca les atteint , si oui detrompez vous .Et qui etes vous Jesus Christ , Moise Mahommet ou le Dali Lama pour vous permettre de juger les autres, enfin bref personne n’est parfait , leurs erreurs sont les leurs et personnes vous demande votre avis , biensur que la liberte de parole existe mais vous avez depasse la lourdeur depuis bien longtemps
Sur ce , j’espere que vous frauderez les taxes pour gagner un minimum d’argent qui vous permetterait de vous acheter une vie .
A bon entendeur , Salut!
what’d he saaaaay, what’d he saaay ????!!!!!
Tony, he is saying that he read the posts and knew the family long ago. he says yes they were rich and may have been frivolent w/taxes. However, he goes on to say, is their history so interesting that bloggers have spent 2 years writing about them(?) He says the rich man today has something to hide in their closets, but the Tollmans have a lot less to hide. He says the Tollmans fled in the 70s and went to London without a penny in their pocket. he says you’re not going to blame them for Apartheid if they left leaving their fortune behind. He mentiona WWI & II and a few other world atrocities. He says something to the effect that “…you must be a lot more than that, who really cares about you and your family”. he says if you think this is reaching them, you’re mistaken. Further, who are you (bloggers) to judge them and that no one asked the blogger’s opinion. he adds tha, of course, there is freedon of speech, but folks in this blog have been crossing the line. Finally, Francois suggests that this site’s bloggers try to begin deferring enough taxes to buy a new life.
francois says in the beginning that his english is very bad. Well, says a french national, his french is quite bad as well.
It is great to catch up with everyone. ASV, I am thrilled to hear that Wynn is in South Africa. AFter his probation was over, Brett moved to London. He can not handle being far apart from his family.
look who’s back in action … looking older, but hopefully wiser … i still say he was an alright guy.
http://www.globaltraveltourism.com/site_2008/media6a84.html?m_gallery_id=40&ss=1
For the record M, Du Pont Tollmans did not leave SA without a penny, just ask the creditors they left high and dry!
For anyone interested, it appears Mr. Gavin Tollman is rising to the top again. This email was sent to us this week from Mike Ness.
_____________________________________________________________
After 13 years employment with The Travel Corporation, primarily with Contiki and then joining Trafalgar in 2007, Paul Baker has decided to leave the Group to pursue new opportunities and challenges.
Through his commitment, dedication and strategic approach, Paul succeeded in assisted in repositioning and elevating Contiki to the excellent brand we see today. His tireless efforts for Trafalgar were recognized and appreciated by all.
Please join me in thanking Paul for all of his excellent work and support and we wish him well for the future.
Given Paul’s departure, in the interim, Gavin Tollman will be fulfilling this role.
Mike Ness
Stanley Tollman got away with it. I thought that the United States would never settle the case against him and prevent him from ever returning to the United States. They did for one day of probabtion and $100 million.
Next stop for the Tollman’s - Park Avenue?
By MARTIN ESPINOZA
Published: November 21, 2008
After years of trying to avoid prison time in the United States, a multimillionaire hotel executive has won his freedom, in exchange for payments totaling more than $100 million.
The executive, Stanley S. Tollman, 78, pleaded guilty — via video link between London and a federal courtroom in Manhattan — to one count of tax evasion, and will pay more than $60 million in back taxes, interest and fraud penalties. He has also agreed to pay $44.7 million to settle a civil forfeiture suit related to allegations in a 2002 indictment charging him and six others with various fraud offenses.
As part of the plea deal, Mr. Tollman, who left the country in 2002 just before being indicted on tax evasion and fraud charges, and who has been fighting extradition ever since, will serve a one-day term of probation, the United States attorney’s office said.
Mr. Tollman, an American citizen, was an executive with the New York-based company Tollman-Hundley Hotels, which owned and managed various Days Inn hotels throughout the United States. He also held management positions with the Travel Corporation, the parent organization, based in the British Virgin Islands, of several travel and tourism companies, including Trafalgar Tours International, Trafalgar USA and the Red Carnation Group of hotels.
The United States attorney’s office says that during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Mr. Tollman and his wife, Beatrice Nina Tollman, opened a series of bank accounts on the island of Guernsey, in the English Channel. According to court documents, two of the accounts “were opened and maintained in the names of corporations, to wit, Buffalo Holdings and New York Investments, and virtually all of the income received through these accounts was not reported to the I.R.S.”
The records say that from 1994 to 1999, the Tollmans received, through the Guernsey corporate bank accounts, more than $18 million in income from or paid through the Travel Corporation or one of its subsidiaries and that they did not pay taxes on that money.
In the plea agreement, which he and his lawyer, Viet D. Dinh, signed on Friday, Mr. Tollman agreed to pay $25 million immediately and to pay $16,018,728, plus any accrued interest on the outstanding debt, each year for the next five years. The total amount Mr. Tollman owes the federal government, not counting interest, is $105,093,638.
The United States attorney’s office declined to comment on the case beyond the details laid out in a statement released on Friday. Mr. Dinh could not be reached for comment at his office at Bancroft Associates in Washington, D.C.
Monty D. Hundley, Mr. Tollman’s business partner at Tollman-Hundley and a former owner of Days Inn of America; James Cutler, Tollman-Hundley’s chief financial officer; and Howard Zukerman, Tollman-Hundley’s vice president of finance, were all convicted in 2004 after a two-month jury trial before Judge Loretta A Preska in Federal District Court in Manhattan. Mr. Tollman’s son, Brett, pleaded guilty of tax evasion in 2003.
The federal government had also sought to extradite Mrs. Tollman, 77, who in 2003 was charged separately with tax fraud. In the plea agreement, bank fraud and other remaining counts against Mr. Tollman, as well as the pending complaint against Mrs. Tollman, were dismissed.
Please would you just stop it .we all know what happened let them go on with their lives
Answer to TT insider that message about Paul Baker in an inside message pkease refrain from passing on internal information
Who died and made you the blog police, ol?
ol … it’s not over until every indicted member of the family pays their debt to society … and that’s to the u.s. citizens … i’m sure most of them will rot in hell for they the things they did, because i believe in god’s justice.
Amazing!!!
EB, TNT, LG & Tony Sypa - Merry Christmas and a safe and healthy New Year.
Long time, SN! Merry Christmas to you, and the best of everything for the New Year.
Christmas greetings as well to EB and Tony Sypa. Happy Hanukkah to LG.
This was not a very productive year for this thread, but apparently the wheels of justice have been favorably greased for Stanley.
—TNT
Will rot in hell ? I wonder what you wish for Madoff…
Insulting the family is trespassing a line you shouldn’t .
I hope your family rots in hell , and doesn’t survive the crisis .
first off … eb, lg, turkey, all … happy holidays ! turkey enjoy the rose bowl !
lg .. i’ve been doing some writing lately , specific to Trafalgar and my time there .. i’ll share it with you when done, but i see it’s gonna take a while ….
hmmmm … yeah , madoff should/will rot in hell too.
I’m not trying to insult the family .. i’m merely hoping that there be some justice , if not on this earth, then through the god i believe in. i take it your some sort of family member or friend to get so insulted, but a fact is a fact .. they are a family of thieves, they hurt many people along the way , and i believe that when a person sins in the eyes of god, and are not repentant for it, they go to hell. brett is the only one i’ve seen be a stand up kinda guy and be repentant …. the others deserve their trip.
as for my family rotting in hell .. well since they lived honorable lives and never swindled any banks or cheated on thier taxes , well sometimes i can feel their angelic presence watching me. and i’m surviving the crisis nicely btw thank you very much. money is not my god.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS !
Hmm - I really wonder who you are. You are definately a member of the Tollman clan. Who knows, maybe Bea herself as the sarcastic language may indicate.
Poor Tollmans, who have crossed the line that lies between the Good and Bad. Your poor background of European immigrants who left their village of wooden shacks located on the outskirts of Europe, one of the typical “bourgade” as the French would say, at the end of the 19th century in search of a better life in South Africa has triggered in you a greed for power and wealth. Maybe by doing this you have tried very hard to erase your mediocre past but this stain has proven to be resistant to time as much as the blood stains on Lady Macbeth’s hands. A typical colonial syndrome reminescent of Albert Memdi’s “Le colonisateur et le colonise” - the mediocre Europeans who migrate to the colony to oppress the indigenous people in order to enrich and elevate themselves. In this struggle for wealth and social status, they forget about their own dignity and more elevated human values, use ruthless politics, deceit and pursue the power by any means like Macchiavelli’s “Prince”.
The irony is that you have become the colonized yourself. Your immense wealth cannot erase your thick South African accent and you feel alienated in the London higher society as you will never be treated as the British but some despicable foreign “nouveaux riches”. That’s why you feel more at home in your Belgravia ghetto with neighbours such as the Russian mafiosos - Abramovich and other corrupted soulmates of yours. Class cannot be bought with gold. Human dignity, enlightment, being civilised is not part of a social status, but of one’s soul and one’s desire to pursue wisdom and overcome human nature.
In fact, to overcome our human weaknesses, we don’t need money or high social status - something that has never occurred to you and probably never will.
Tony Sypa is like many others that you have stepped upon to acquire power and wealth. He is right in saying that you will rot in hell. However, the hell already exists in this dimension. You may already have bad consciousness but are too scare to admit it. You may be looking at your image in the mirror and feel disgust for yourself. Bea and Stanley - you are getting older and older. You will die soon. You cannot take your riches with you but will rot in the ground like all of us. And maybe that’s why you have overacted by wishing Tony to lose his job in these hard times for the global economy.
I also believe in justice. The Buddhism talks about the cause and effect. You are already collecting the seeds that you have sown.
Nam-myoho-renge kyo!