Rey Threatens Countersuit Against S&L; : Financier Target of Suit by Beverly Hills Federal
Swiss financier Werner K. Rey on Monday characterized as “a mere tactical maneuver” the $15-million fraud and racketeering lawsuit filed against him last week by Beverly Hills Federal Savings & Loan Assn.
Rey, who is in London, responded to the S&L;’s suit through a spokesman. In his statement, Rey also threatened to file his own $10-million suit against Beverly Hills Federal later this week.
The Beverly Hills Federal suit, filed last Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleges that Rey traded $10 million in “substantially worthless” debentures to the association, obtaining in return several valuable properties around the country.
Curtis Hoxter, Rey’s U.S. representative, said Monday that Rey had not yet seen the lawsuit but released the following statement:
“Negotiations between Mr. Rey and the Beverly Hills Savings & Loan’s successors regarding repayment of these remaining outstanding obligations have so far proved without success,” the statement said.
Taking the Court Route
“As a result, Mr. Rey is now taking the court route in order to obtain repayment and settlement, including damages, in an amount of well over $10 million, which was the main obligation remaining.”
Rey, who was unavailable for comment, said that a “more precise” response to individual allegations would not be possible until his “legal advisers have studied the details.” However, he said, Mission Viejo-based Beverly Hills Federal has “taken the legal road on issues that are not pertinent.”
Henry Silberberg, attorney for Beverly Hills Federal, said the association is seeking a court order prohibiting Rey from selling or transferring the properties, which are located in New York, California, Connecticut and North Carolina, among other places. Silberberg said the debentures that Rey held in the defunct Beverly Hills Savings were virtually worthless when he swapped them for the properties.
In April, the old Beverly Hills Savings & Loan Assn. was declared insolvent and seized by federal regulators, who reconstituted it as a federally chartered mutual association and moved its executive offices to Mission Viejo, where the S&L; had maintained administrative offices since 1981.
