A sweeping, half-million dollar foreclosure suit was filed this week targeting numerous commercial properties in Shawano and Wescott owned by the Samanta Roy Institute of Science and Technology and one of its subsidiaries.
The wide-ranging civil action encompasses 15 properties, from vacant buildings to ongoing enterprises such as the Midwest Gift and Fudge House in Wescott.
According to the civil suit filed in Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court on Monday, a number of mortgages and land contracts on the properties were bundled into a single consolidated loan agreement with M&I Bank in 2008 and were backed by a promissory note signed by SIST founder R.C. Samanta Roy, who has since changed his name to Avraham Cohen.
The debts were eventually acquired by Wells Fargo Bank of Dallas, which claims in the suit that SIST and Cohen defaulted on the agreement.
The suit maintains that $526,388, including interest and fees, was still remaining on the debt as of Nov. 28.
Wells Fargo is seeking foreclosure on the fudge shop at 104 Old Lake Road in Wescott; vacant properties at 201 N. Main St. and 202 N. Washington St.; the former Ponderosa Steak House at 1247 E. Green Bay St.; the former Subway at 951 E. Green Bay St.; the former Taco John’s restaurant at 1214 E. Green Bay St.; a property at 143 S. Main St. being rented to Hunan’s Chinese Restaurant, and 145 S. Main St., a vacant property next door; vacant properties at 128 E. Green Bay St. and at 311 E. Green Bay St.; an apartment complex at 117 Mills St.; and three other Wescott properties, N5654, N5660 and N5670 State Highway 47-55.
The suit names nine other creditors as defendants. Wells Fargo maintains it has a priority claim on the debts.
The suit also alleges that SIST and its subsidiary Midwest Properties of Shawano have failed to keep up real estate taxes on some of the properties.
According to records from the Shawano County treasurer’s office, six of the properties named in the suit have delinquent taxes from 2013 totaling more than $5,250.
This is not the first mass foreclosure suit filed against SIST and its subsidiaries. Seven of the properties included in the Wells Fargo suit were part of a suit filed by M&I Bank in February 2011. The suit was dismissed in December of that year after SIST and M&I entered into a forbearance agreement.
The agreement was extended twice, with M&I agreeing not to take action against the properties until after Sept. 14, 2014, after which there was a three-month redemption period for SIST to make good on its debts.
Wells Fargo obtained those debts while that agreement was still in place. The redemption period expired Dec. 14.
SIST and its subsidiaries have lost a number of foreclosure suits over the last three years, including the following:
• An apartment building at 463 Humphrey Circle and 1024 E. Fifth St. in Shawano.
• The USA International Raceway in Wescott.
• The Kiryat Hotel, now the Four Seasons Resort, 201 N. Airport Drive.
• The El Mariachi Cantina and Grill, 635 S. Main St.
• The former Family Dollar property at 229 E. Green Bay St.
• The former Qualheim’s building at 153 S. Main St.
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