Peoria, IL, USA 104.9 The Wolf
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PEORIA, Ill. Pere Marquette developers Gary Matthews and Monte Brannan have been indicted in Federal Court on charges of money laundering, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The 26-page document accuses the men of defrauding investors, including the City of Peoria, by “diverting funds intended for the hotel project and revenue of the hotels for their own use and the use of other business interest.”
The indictment also accused Matthews and Brannan of diverting $750,000 of hotel funds to their personal accounts after the hotel went into foreclosure.
Matthews and Brannan have sued the City of Peoria twice in the past 24 months. The City of Peoria filed countersuits against the men and GEM hospitality.
Tim Shelley / Peoria Public Radio
Former Hotel Pere Marquette developers Gary Matthews and Monte Brannan were indicted Tuesday on 21 federal felony counts of money laundering, consipracy to commit money laundering, mail fraud, and concealment of bankruptcy assets.
In a 26-page indictment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Darilyn Knauss said the two men defrauded their investors, the city of Peoria, lenders, and others by illegally diverting money earmarked for the hotel s renovation and revenue from the hotel project for their personal and business use.
Peoria taxpayers had significant skin in the game on the Pere Marquette deal. In 2012, the city loaned Matthews $7 million and doled out $29 million in grants to invigorate the redevelopment effort. The city subsequently had to eat those costs in 2018 when a bankruptcy court awarded ownership of the hotel to its largest investor, INDURE Build-to-Core, an union-owned real estate investment fund.
PEORIA The former owners of the Hotel Pere Marquette were indicted this week on charges of money laundering and mail fraud.
A 26-page indictment, returned late Tuesday, accuses Gary Matthews and Monte Brannan of diverting $750,000 of hotel funds to themselves after the hotel went into foreclosure. They are accused of taking approximately $1.6 million away from the hotel s bank accounts and putting it into their own.
The charges allege the two men caused $13.8 million to be moved from a hotel management account into an account they controlled.
The project has become an albatross around City Hall s neck after the project was foreclosed upon, leaving taxpayers on the hook for between $7 to $8 million.
PEORIA – The Marriott Pere Marquette and adjacent Courtyard by Marriott are under new management.
Atlanta-based Davidson Hotels & Resorts is taking over the operations of the Downtown Peoria lodging complex. First Hospitality Group, based in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, had overseen the Peoria hotels since 2014.
The change in management is to result in a renovation of Pere Marquette guest rooms and public areas, according to a news release Davidson issued Wednesday. No specifics were included.
The release was issued a day after the former owners of the hotels, Monte Brannan and Gary Matthews, were indicted on money-laundering charges. National Real Estate Advisors purchased the bankrupt hotels last year.