Panel May Subpoena 2 Who Defaulted on Silverado Loans

A House subcommittee chairman said Wednesday that he will ask that two former Denver developers be subpoenaed to answer questions about their finances and the failed Silverado Banking, Savings & Loan.

Kenneth Good and Bill Walters defaulted on $132 million in loans from the former Denver thrift. They had been scheduled to appear today in Washington before the House Banking Committee’s subcommittee on financial institutions supervision, regulation and insurance.

This week, Good and Walters both refused to appear before the financial institutions subcommittee, so it canceled the hearing.

Members of Congress want the two to explain how they can live well after claiming in earlier congressional testimony to have a “negative net worth.”

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Frank Annunzio (D-Ill.) said Wednesday in a statement from his Washington office that he will seek a subpoena to force the two to testify.

“I am appalled by their actions,” Annunzio said. “Originally, they said they would testify voluntarily and I took their word in good faith. Now, at the last minute they say they will not attend. They falsely led the subcommittee to believe they would be in Washington on Thursday.

“I will not be deterred,” he said. “I will ask for a subpoena to compel them to testify.”

Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.) wrote House Banking Committee Chairman Henry Gonzalez, (D-Tex.), also asking that Walters and Good be subpoenaed.

“The gaudy high-rollers of the 1980s are suddenly wilting at the sight of a camera,” she said. “The bill for the Silverado carnival should go directly to culprits responsible. The best way to deliver that bill is to subpoena Messrs. Walters and Good to a public, televised hearing.”

Good and Walters are two key figures in the investigation of Silverado’s demise. Both invested in Silverado director Neil Bush’s Denver oil company. Bush, the President’s son, voted in his capacity as a board member of the thrift in favor of big loans for the two. Good and Walters defaulted on the loans.

Federal regulators closed Silverado in December, 1988. The thrift failure is expected to cost taxpayers up to $1 billion.