Parkwood Bankruptcy Reorganization. (Best business education).

Prologue. John Sweeterman had become one of the top business people in Washington. Unlike Ohio cities, Washington's only business, other than lobbying, was real estate. He was on the executive committee of the American Security Bank, the second largest bank in Washington, and the prime banker for the largely Jewish real estate community. It was not a land of opportunity that I had expected, but it was a marvelous experience. Parkwood years are some of my most interesting and challenging. It was a period of growing up and learning. I was privileged to have a father-in-law that would find me a top-flight position at such a young age. The following is sort of a random walk through these exciting years.

I). Parkwood, Inc., The Bankruptcy. Parkwood Inc. was a large real estate holding company. Its principal owner was Victor Orsinger. He was the supreme con artist. Self-proclaimed devout Catholic, he convinced a quite naïve Catholic Order located in Wisconsin to finance the projects. The gimmick was to issue to the public a couple million dollars worth of bonds in the name of the order Society of Divine Savior., (Quite a large sum back then). He then would send the order, a couple hundred thousand dollars and invest the rest to real estate deals where unbeknownst to them he was the major beneficiary. The Parkwood interest comprised 2000 apartment units, a sizable office building in Baltimore. An office building for his Washingtonoffice, shopping malls, the Manassas Virginia Airport, North Wales, 3600 acres, the largest undivided tract in northern Virginia, prior estate of Henry Chrysler, South Wales, 2800 acres, Northern Virginia. Large commercial parcel in northern Maryland, fully developed old square block adjacent to the University of Marquette in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Large developable track of land in Waukesha, Wisconsin. On and on. Plot discovered. Parkwood put into Receivership. Being such a large scandal the Roman Catholic officials interceded. Top Catholic Washington law firm, Foley,Youngman and Rowe represented the church. John W. Snyder, secretary-treasurer and card playing friend of Truman was named Receiver. Mr. Baker, (many stories, Mr. Sweeterman's close business friend and his mother was a Brumbaugh) President of the bank, assigned me to work under Johnny Neil, head of the real estate department, to manage the activities of Parkwood. First came the transfer from the Receivership to the chapter 10 bankruptcy. Mr. Snyder turned the administration over to the bank. My first two weeks were to be briefed by Mr. Snyder. Delightful character. (Side bar story, Mr. Sweeterman, was one of the first lay members of the board of Georgetown University. When he resigned, Mr. Snyder took his place.) I spent three years at the position. At the end it became quite routine, not interesting. Mr. Baker would not give me a raise, so I resigned from the bank and that gave me the "Year off" on Grafton Street. Following are random tales of the Parkwood adventure.

II). Parkwood Tales .

A). Lawyers. The firm representing American Security Bank, as Trustee for Parkwood, was Leva, Hawes, Syimgton, Oppenheimer and Martin. Their other partner, Henry Fowler, was recently departed to be Lyndon Johnson's Secretary of Treasury. My lawyers and later close social friends, were Peter Barnes, Yale Law, (his father Tracy Barnes, top CIA operating, blamed for Bay of Pigs failure.), Dick Schlackman, from Brooklyn, number three my class, Law Review, Columbia Law School, crippled from polio, limped. Delightful, colorful friend. Foley Youngman firm young Attorney, Jim Mears, and wife Florence became. longtime good social friend Washington.

B). Mission. The mission was to secure a Chapter 10 bankruptcy status. This would prevent forced liquidation of assets and hopefully create a longer-term, much more beneficial payout to debtors, in addition to protection for the Catholic order. My job was to oversee day-to-day operations, testify before the courts and when approved by the courts, sell minor assets.

C) Fred in Charge. First days. The first day at my office was unbelievable. It was a building owned by Parkwood, the open court short block of Connecticut Avenue between H Street and the White House. My law firm was located in the building across the street. I inherited Orsinger's office. Also, beautiful secretary, three accountants, and staff. The office had elegant furniture, a large Montague Dawson sailing painting, etc. Fourth week, I was instructed by the court to evict Orsinger from his home. His home was the Walter Chrysler mansion in North Wales, outside of Warrenton, Virginia. Stables for over 50 horses. Mansion had 10 bedrooms, a gigantic party room, large wine cellar. Victor owned two Rolls-Royce cars. The good life was over. He'd given me a tour. I drove down after having made an appointment and escorted him and his wife off the property.

D). North Wales story. The manager of the farm is a rather difficult fellow, but a graduate of Ohio State Agricultural School. I befriended him when he took over the grounds. Most interesting , Arthur Godfrey, the television persona of the time, had 20 horses stabled there. After two years, a wealthy North Virginia landowner offered to buy the property. I negotiated the deal with my law firm. $1,900,000, unbelievable today. The potential buyer did not understand that his offer just triggered a process which went before the court and then other offers could be accepted. It was critical that the Parkwood bankruptcy avoid Chapter 12 liquidation. Liquidity was critical and the sale essential. It went before Judge Oliver Gashe, who I had testified before. There were three other officers. The winner for $2,600,000 was a person from Oklahoma who operated large retirement centers. His backers were the Rockefeller family.

E). Other transactions. There were many many other transactions, some of the best were as follows.

1) Morganite Gem. Among Victor's art collection was the world's largest, semi precious Morganite gemstone. A wealthy person wanted to buy it and then donate to the Smithsonian. Back then if you got a very high appraisal, you got a very high price. To facilitate the deal, I put the gemstone in my briefcase, took the train to New York, met with Mr. Harry Winston, famous jeweler, and he gave me the high appraisal.

2). Jerry Wolman Silver Spring Deal. Mr. Jerry Wolman, who owed Parkwood $1 million on the purchase of a large commercial piece of ground in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles football team. He had built the second tallest building in Chicago. Unfortunately, the building by the lake did not have a solid foundation. It failed and he faced bankruptcy. Dick, Peter and I negotiated with him but he never kept his promise to pay the money. I had an idea. I had Dick go to the Montgomery County, Maryland courthouse and file a lawsuit for the million dollars. We did so one minute before the county office closed Friday afternoon. If the filing became public, Jerry's empire would have gone into bankruptcy. I called him and said if we got the money on Saturday, we would withdraw the suit first thing Monday. In my office Saturday morning with Dick and Peter, a limo pulls up with a certified check for $1 million.

Follow-Up Stories. Marks Leva, and Bob Martin were very special people. Got to know Bob socially. When later at Macall and Coe, Marks was instrumental in my being successful in taking Capitol Mortgage C REIT to Mr. Legg of Legg, Mason Investment Brokers, to bring it public and make enough money to live off of for two years. Bob Martin, two years after my Parkwood work, got me the job of being attorney for the advanced team for Hubert Humphrey's Presidential campaign in Ohio and Florida. Side note... I sat a number of times in the office with their client, Ross Perot, when he was first starting in Texas.