Troubled times for Kevin Cohee
By Boston Herald Staff
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Kevin L. Cohee purchased a controlling interest in the Boston Bank of Commerce in 1995 and was elected chairman and CEO in 1996.
ALL-STAR LINEUP: Kevin L. Cohee, center, officially marks his bank’s acquisition of Founders National Bank of Los Angeles in 2001. Celebrants include, ‘Magic’ Johnson and music industry executive Jheryl Busby.
By Jessica Van Sack
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The married bank honcho at the center of the Maxine Waters ethics firestorm was arrested for allegedly sodomizing a woman and possessing cocaine at a company-owned manse just months before U.S. Rep. Barney Frank arranged a controversial taxpayer bailout for the Hub-based lender.
The charges against OneUnited Chairman and CEO Kevin L. Cohee, 52, who splits his time between Chestnut Hill and Santa Monica, were dismissed - including allegations of possessing cocaine, illegal narcotics and opiates in his company’s $6.4 million beachfront villa. Cohee agreed to participate in a “drug diversion program” in exchange for the drug charges being dismissed, according to Santa Monica Police Sgt. Jay Trisler.
Accusations of sodomy were dropped shortly after his arrest in April 2007. During that investigation, the police searched his company-owned home and arrested him on the drug charges.
“It was completely without merit,” Cohee told the Herald yesterday. “No convictions. Not even any charges. Utter and complete nonsense that went nowhere.”
In testimony to a House ethics panel, Waters called Cohee a “friend” and said she had been to one of his homes for a Christmas party and a fund-raiser.
Cohee’s legal plight played out until the drug charges against him were dropped in July 2008 - the month before he began working to secure a federal bailout for his bank, raising serious questions about the degree of vetting by federal regulators and members of Congress.
Frank, who chairs the powerful House Financial Services Committee, said through a spokesman that he was unaware of Cohee’s past legal troubles when he helped ensure that OneUnited - the Bay State’s only African-American-owned bank - would be eligible for a federal bailout.
“He didn’t know that,” Frank spokesman Harry Gural told the Herald, referring to Cohee’s arrest and the dropped charges. “He would have looked into it if someone had told him this. If there appeared to be merit to it (the charges), he would have called it to the attention of federal regulators.”
Frank has previously denied Waters had any sway over his efforts to help OneUnited, but admitted he was working on behalf of Cohee and disgraced state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson.
In October 2008, federal regulators and the Bay State’s division of banks ordered OneUnited to sell its $6.4 million beachfront property in Pacific Palisades, a prestigious area between Santa Monica and Malibu, and sell its bank-owned Porsche and other cars - like the gray Jaguar that Cohee was driving at the time of his 2007 arrest.
Regulators also demanded the bank end excessive payments and benefits for its executives.
At the time of his arrest on the sodomy accusation, Cohee told police he met his accuser, a woman he briefly dated, while she worked as a stylist on a photo shoot being filmed at the bank-owned home for an “MTV series,” according to a police report.
OneUnited lawyer Bob Cooper released a statement saying, “It is essential to reiterate and make clear that Mr. Cohee has no criminal record.”
Cooper added that the house “where Mr. Cohee resided was fully furnished and contained the personal possessions of others.”
Cohee’s courtroom drama is the latest twist in the ongoing ethics controversy dogging Waters, the California congresswoman. She faces conflict-of-interest charges for allegedly making a call to the Treasury Department on behalf of OneUnited as it sought to offset the $50-million hit it sustained from the federal takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Cohee, a Harvard Law graduate and former Wall Street investment banker, has long advocated for fair treatment of minorities by the nation’s banks, and OneUnited has been praised in the past for helping lower-income neighborhoods spur growth.
- September 1999: Boston Bank of Commerce acquires Peoples National Bank of Commerce with branches in Miami and Lauderdale Lakes, Fla.
- May 2001: Boston Bank of Commerce acquires Founders National Bank of Los Angeles, whose co-owners included Janet Jackson, Jheryl Busby and Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
- January 2003: With the support of U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, Boston Bank of Commerce beats out Illinois-based, white-owned bank to buy Family Savings Bank of Los Angeles and create OneUnited Bank.
- Janury 2004: Waters’ husband, Sidney Williams, joins the board of OneUnited and acquires stock in the bank.
- February 2006: OneUnited begins offering online banking services.
- April 2007: Cohee arrested in sodomy case.
- May 2007: Cohee arrested on narcotics possession charges.
- April 2008: Sidney Williams’ term on the board of OneUnited ends, but he still holds shares in the bank worth about $350,000, or between 5 percent and 15 percent of the couple’s combined net worth.
- August 2008: Charges against Cohee are dismissed.
- August/September 2008: Cohee lobbies Waters and U.S. Rep. Barney Frank for a meeting with Treasury Department officials and for assistance for OneUnited.
- Sept. 9, 2008: Cohee and others meet with Treasury Department officials. The meeting reportedly focuses on OneUnited’s potential losses - more than $50 million - from federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
- Oct. 3, 2008: $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program signed into law.
- Oct. 27, 2008: Regulators issue cease-and-desist order against OneUnited. The company is ordered to sell within 90 days the $6.4 million home at 703 Palisades Beach Road and a Porsche the bank bought for Cohee’s personal use.
- December 2008: OneUnited, which had orginally asked for $50 million, receives $12 million from federal bailout program.
- Aug. 16, 2010: OneUnited and other small banks are due to make dividend payments to the Treasury Department. OneUnited has missed five payments in a row.
Bank exec woes
Barney Frank, Maxine Waters say they didn’t know about charges
By Jessica Van Sack
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The married bank honcho at the center of the Maxine Waters ethics firestorm was arrested for allegedly sodomizing a woman and possessing cocaine at a company-owned manse just months before U.S. Rep. Barney Frank arranged a controversial taxpayer bailout for the Hub-based lender.
The charges against OneUnited Chairman and CEO Kevin L. Cohee, 52, who splits his time between Chestnut Hill and Santa Monica, were dismissed - including allegations of possessing cocaine, illegal narcotics and opiates in his company’s $6.4 million beachfront villa. Cohee agreed to participate in a “drug diversion program” in exchange for the drug charges being dismissed, according to Santa Monica Police Sgt. Jay Trisler.
Accusations of sodomy were dropped shortly after his arrest in April 2007. During that investigation, the police searched his company-owned home and arrested him on the drug charges.
In testimony to a House ethics panel, Waters called Cohee a “friend” and said she had been to one of his homes for a Christmas party and a fund-raiser.
Cohee’s legal plight played out until the drug charges against him were dropped in July 2008 - the month before he began working to secure a federal bailout for his bank, raising serious questions about the degree of vetting by federal regulators and members of Congress.
Frank, who chairs the powerful House Financial Services Committee, said through a spokesman that he was unaware of Cohee’s past legal troubles when he helped ensure that OneUnited - the Bay State’s only African-American-owned bank - would be eligible for a federal bailout.
“He didn’t know that,” Frank spokesman Harry Gural told the Herald, referring to Cohee’s arrest and the dropped charges. “He would have looked into it if someone had told him this. If there appeared to be merit to it (the charges), he would have called it to the attention of federal regulators.”
Frank has previously denied Waters had any sway over his efforts to help OneUnited, but admitted he was working on behalf of Cohee and disgraced state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson.
In October 2008, federal regulators and the Bay State’s division of banks ordered OneUnited to sell its $6.4 million beachfront property in Pacific Palisades, a prestigious area between Santa Monica and Malibu, and sell its bank-owned Porsche and other cars - like the gray Jaguar that Cohee was driving at the time of his 2007 arrest.
Regulators also demanded the bank end excessive payments and benefits for its executives.
At the time of his arrest on the sodomy accusation, Cohee told police he met his accuser, a woman he briefly dated, while she worked as a stylist on a photo shoot being filmed at the bank-owned home for an “MTV series,” according to a police report.
OneUnited lawyer Bob Cooper released a statement saying, “It is essential to reiterate and make clear that Mr. Cohee has no criminal record.”
Cooper added that the house “where Mr. Cohee resided was fully furnished and contained the personal possessions of others.”
Cohee’s courtroom drama is the latest twist in the ongoing ethics controversy dogging Waters, the California congresswoman. She faces conflict-of-interest charges for allegedly making a call to the Treasury Department on behalf of OneUnited as it sought to offset the $50-million hit it sustained from the federal takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Cohee, a Harvard Law graduate and former Wall Street investment banker, has long advocated for fair treatment of minorities by the nation’s banks, and OneUnited has been praised in the past for helping lower-income neighborhoods spur growth.
In January 2003, Cohee and his wife acquired a bank in Waters’ district after the congresswoman’s outspoken advocacy for Family Savings Bank to remain in African-American hands. The acquisition nearly doubled the size of Cohee’s bank, which he re-branded OneUnited.
The following year, Waters’ husband, Sidney Williams, joined the board of OneUnited. He remained a member until April 2008, retaining shares worth about $350,000 in the bank.
A spokesman for Waters, Mikael Moore, said the congresswoman did not know that Cohee had been arrested or that the charges were dropped.
“She was not aware,” Moore said.
For his part, Cohee downplayed the ethics allegations that Waters now faces. “These midterm elections are coming up,” he said. “People are determined to win.”
The following year, Waters’ husband, Sidney Williams, joined the board of OneUnited. He remained a member until April 2008, retaining shares worth about $350,000 in the bank.
A spokesman for Waters, Mikael Moore, said the congresswoman did not know that Cohee had been arrested or that the charges were dropped.
For his part, Cohee downplayed the ethics allegations that Waters now faces. “These midterm elections are coming up,” he said. “People are determined to win.”
Seeking a BLACK Bank.
ReplyDeleteNot a minority bank.
BLACKS are NOT minorities/diversity/etc. both terms defined a n y t h I n g but black.