Published on Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Trump Hotels accused of financial misconduct

Trump Hotels has been accused of mismanagement and financial misconduct.

In a lawsuit filed in New York, the owners of the hybrid condo-hotel Trump International Hotel and Tower in Panama claim Trump Hotels is guilty of 'gross mismanagement, breaches of contract, conversion and breaches of fiduciary duties'.

An attempt was launched last year to oust Trump as manager last year, and the suit alleges it tried to 'bully, intimidate and harass' its way out of a $15 million arbitration claim.

In a letter to unit owners, Orestes Fintiklis, the managing partner of Miami-based Ithaca Capital Partners which owns more than 200 condos in the 70-storey building, said 'the investment has no future so long as the hotel is managed by an incompetent operator whose brand has been tarnished beyond repair'.

"Trump Hotels 'is refusing to maintain its last shreds of dignity and peacefully vacate our property," he wrote.

Trump Hotels itself fired off a letter to the owners association laying all blame with Ithaca Capital.

To complicate things even further, executives from Marriott International were invited to inspect the hotel with a view to potentially managing it in the future, but were booted off site by Trump Hotels.

That led to an angry phone call by Trump Hotels CEO Eric Danziger to Marriott counterpart Arne Sorenson.

"We have a great relationship with Marriott. They were appreciative that we let them know that we have a valid contract," Trump International attorney Alan Garten told the AP.

 

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