SunTrust Bank has yet to be paid back for $1.5 million loaned last year to a Tampa-based wealth management firm.
Five days after full payment was due, the bank filed a complaint Nov. 1 against Platinum Wealth Partners in Hillsborough County circuit court.
The suit requests judgment against Platinum as well as two other members of the company. SunTrust seeks full repayment of the loan, as well as interest and attorney’s costs. SunTrust is also calling for the court to allow the bank to recover personal property signed off as collateral for the debt.
According to the complaint, on Oct. 28, 2015, Platinum executed a commercial note with SunTrust to open a revolving line of credit for funds up to $1.5 million. The next day, Platinum gave SunTrust the right to all its assets, such as inventory, furniture, and deposit accounts.
Platinum defaulted payments in July and then again Oct. 27, by failing to pay all the funds owed by the maturity date set in the original note.
Platinum founder and CEO David Porter and George Hall, the president of private client groups, signed off as guarantors for the loan. Because the two delivered an Unconditional Guaranty to SunTrust to pay back all funds, they also are named in the suit.
The company failed to provide SunTrust with financial information regarding Hall, again defaulting under the note.
Platinum was notified of the defaults Aug. 4, but failed to pay any funds owed.
On the day the suit was filed, Platinum still owed the bank $1,488,000 for principal only. Add interest, default interest, late fees, and attorney’s fees — and that number is expected to grow significantly.
The property the bank seeks to obtain in the suit is believed to be housed in offices across the country, from Tampa to Las Vegas to Santa Monica.
Platinum Wealth Partners, which operates nine offices nationwide, is an investment-advisory firm with a home base in Tampa. In 2015, Financial Advisor Magazine ranked the company No. 10 on their list of the 2014 Top 50 fastest growing firms.
