FSLIC Sues Ex-Thrift Owner Sahni for $45 Million Over Loan Defaults

Ranbir S. Sahni, a former Orange County savings and loan owner, was slapped with a $45-million lawsuit Monday by federal regulators who claim that he is in default on loans owed to the defunct Consolidated Savings Bank in Irvine.

The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp., as receiver for Consolidated, claims that Sahni hasn’t repaid six promissory notes used to buy a 157-acre parcel in Carson that was once a dump site for hazardous waste.

The agency is also attempting to freeze Sahni’s assets and will try today to get a court order attaching certain property.

The Carson property is believed to be worth more than $40 million.

The lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, is the latest in a series of court cases pursued by the FSLIC and Sahni concerning his operation of American Diversified Savings Bank, the complex Costa Mesa concern that was closed by regulators in June.

In state, federal and bankruptcy courts, the regulators and Sahni have been battling over American Diversified assets, as well as over fraud and mismanagement charges. The court fights with Sahni have cost the FSLIC and its ward, American Diversified, more than $15 million in legal fees, making it the agency’s single most expensive legal battle over a dead S&L.;

Regulators, who had seized American Diversified in February, 1986, took control of Consolidated 3 months later.

Before either S&L; was seized, Sahni used one of his companies, World Development Corp., to purchase the Carson property from Robert A. Ferrante, sole owner of Consolidated. In a complicated financing scheme, Consolidated wound up as the owner or beneficiary of notes totaling $37 million.

But Sahni made only two payments on the loans. After Consolidated was seized, Ferrante tried to foreclose on the property on his own behalf and claimed to have a buyer interested in the property.

To stall the foreclosure, Sahni caused WDC to file for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy laws. The company listed the Carson property as its only asset and reported $43 million in liabilities.

Both Ferrante and the FSLIC opposed the bankruptcy. Two weeks ago, a judge finally agreed that the company should not be in Bankruptcy Court and dismissed WDC’s petition. The action cleared the way for the agency to sue Sahni in state court.