Former Days Inn Owner Convicted Of Fraud

NEW YORK— A former owner of the Days Inn hotel chain was convicted on charges he orchestrated a scheme to bilk a dozen creditors out of nearly $100 million. Monty D. Hundley, a principal of Tollman-Hundley Hotels, and three former senior executives were convicted February 3 of conspiracy and bank fraud following a three-month trial in federal court in Manhattan. The men were indicted in April 2002 along with Hundleys business partner, Stanley S. Tollman, who is now a fugitive. Prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. attorneys office said Hundley, 60, of Windemere, FL, was the mastermind of the scheme to avoid repaying tens of millions in financing from various financial institutions, including Chemical Bank and National Westminster Bank. Hundley and Tollman, who over two decades used the financing to build a series of companies that owned more than 50 Days Inn hotels, allegedly concealed assets that included the $100 million in stock they received when they sold the chain to Hospitality Franchise Systems, now Cendant Corp., in 1992. Hundley and Tollman falsely represented to the banks that they lacked the ability to repay the debts, according to the indictment. But in reality, the men owned multimillion-dollar homes and Tollman had a fleet of luxury cars, prosecutors said. Also convicted were Sanford Freedman, 67, of Riverdale, NY, who served as Tollman-Hundleys general counsel; James Cutler, 53, of Las Vegas, its chief financial officer; and Howard Zukerman, 57, of Syosset, NY, its vice president of finance. Each of the defendants face as much as 30 years in prison on the bank fraud conviction, plus fines. U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska scheduled sentencing for June 2. SOURCE: Associated Press