Golden Corral owner files complaint against Adirondack Trust
SARATOGA SPRINGS – Hotel and restaurant owner Niral Patel in Saratoga Springs has filed a complaint against Adirondack Trust Co. with the state’s Department of Financial Services for allegedly denying him and his family 1.9 million dollars in COVID-19 loans he had issued through the US Small Business Administration.
Patel and Adirondack Trust have been locked in a year-long legal battle over money. The bank accused Patel of lying about his loan applications and of attempting to use the funds to pay for personal effects such as his mother’s mortgage.
Patel, who is of Indian descent, accused the bank of racism by denying him funds, citing a recent fine of $ 275,000 that Adirondack Trust agreed to pay after being accused by the State DFS of charging black, Latino and Asian customers higher interest rates than whites. on auto loans.
“Given the bank’s reluctance to rectify its wrongdoing against my family and its history of discrimination against minorities, I thought it was time to file a complaint” with the agency, said Patel in a statement.
DFS confirmed the complaint was filed by Patel, but declined to comment.
Earlier this year, Patel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for some of his businesses after being denied loans. Last week, the bankruptcy judge authorized the release of $ 283,000 in loan funds to the Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee overseeing the case. It is not clear who will receive the money as there are multiple claims from the bank, IRS, and state tax department.
Adirondack Trust CEO Charles Wait Jr. said in a statement that the bank has yet to be notified by DFS of the complaint.
“Mr. Patel’s claims about inaccurate statements and recordings are reckless and entirely false,” Wait said. “We look forward to the opportunity to rebut them. We did not oppose the bankruptcy court order as the order simply preserves the status quo. The court ordered the transfer of funds to the control of the trustee of bankruptcy, pending the final resolution of our Notwithstanding (Patel’s) reckless statements, we bear no animosity towards Mr. Patel and his family. “
Patel is the CEO of a holding company called Northeast Dining and Lodging which owns the Comfort Inn & Suites in Saratoga Springs and several Golden Corral buffet restaurants in Wilton and other towns upstate as well as New Jersey. He also runs a restaurant business.
Patel has been a client of Adirondack Trust for decades. The bank decided to withhold its COVID-19 loan fund obtained through the Federal Paycheck Protection Program after determining that Patel did not disclose certain debts on his application to the SBA.
Adirondack Trust sued Patel in the Saratoga County State Supreme Court; Patel sued before filing his DFS complaint.
The complaint asks the DFS to investigate Adirondack Trust’s decision to withhold PPP loan funds, which were supposed to help Patel reopen its restaurants after being forced to close in 2020 at the start of the pandemic.
Adirondack Trust denied any accusations of racism and said it withheld the loan money because of disclosures Patel failed to make in his loan applications regarding previous loans he was due to repay that had been issued under a separate federal program.
