{"id":118825,"date":"2023-10-03T20:23:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-03T20:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogcamlodipine.com\/?p=118825"},"modified":"2023-10-03T20:23:09","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T20:23:09","slug":"nuggets-superfan-red-pant-man-wasted-bank-profits-on-jets-developer-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogcamlodipine.com\/business\/nuggets-superfan-red-pant-man-wasted-bank-profits-on-jets-developer-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuggets superfan “Red Pant Man” wasted bank profits on jets, developer says"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Denver Nuggets superfan known as the \u201cRed Pant Man\u201d has been accused of squandering the profits from his single-branch Lakewood bank on \u201ca veritable fleet of aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Quagliano, an Illinois native who lives in Florida, is the majority shareholder and chairman at the publicly traded Solera National Bank, which opened in 2006 with a focus on Hispanic customers. Its only location is at 319 S. Sheridan Blvd. in Lakewood.<\/p>\n

He is also @TheRealRedPantMan on TikTok and a courtside staple at Nuggets games, where he dances around, teases opponents and takes selfies in signature trousers.<\/p>\n

And those two sides of him are commingling in questionable ways, a local developer said. <\/p>\n

Rob Salazar, whose family office Central Street Capital has real estate projects in Glendale and Globeville\u2019s Fox Island, sued Solera\u2019s holding company on Sept. 22. Salazar has a background in accounting and is a shareholder in Solera National Bancorp. He wants access to its books so that he can investigate what he calls \u201cQuagliano\u2019s self-dealing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA single-branch community bank has no apparent need for any aircraft, let alone a veritable airline,\u201d his lawsuit states. \u201cThat decision, standing alone, sounds in waste.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the aircraft were not sitting unoccupied in an aircraft hangar in a Denver suburb,\u201d the developer goes on to allege. \u201cThey appear to have been repeatedly used by Quagliano \u2026 to literally jet around the country following his favorite basketball team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salazar\u2019s lawsuit, filed in Delaware Chancery Court, was first written about by Law360. Salazar is represented by the Delaware lawyers Matthew Murphy and Morgan Harrison.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo read that thing is disheartening,\u201d Quagliano said by phone last week, \u201cbecause I had a hard time finding anything true in it.\u201d He claims Salazar has chosen \u201cto lie\u201d about him.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet Mr. Salazar buy a bank and see how well he can do,\u201d Quagliano said. \u201cWe made $18 million last year. Eighteen million. Which is just unbelievable for a bank our size. How did we get there? Well, that\u2019s a business decision. I\u2019m really proud of what we do at Solera.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quagliano said that Salazar has the same access to Solera\u2019s books as other shareholders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever he\u2019s entitled to, we\u2019re going to give him,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got nothing to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n

In July 2020, Solera sent a letter to shareholders announcing that it would be paying dividends for the first time, after accumulating $3.5 million in retained earnings. The letter quoted Quagliano: \u201cIt\u2019s time to start sharing some of our success with our shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

But those dividends were never sent, Salazar said. Instead, Solera spent $4.9 million on a corporate jet \u201cas a tax planning strategy and to allow for safer travel during the pandemic,\u201d it told shareholders the next year. It added an \u201cairplanes\u201d line item to its annual reports.<\/p>\n

At the end of 2021, that line item was $10.6 million. At the end of 2022, it was $17.1 million.<\/p>\n

Quagliano is listed as the registered agent of Solera Aviation, a Florida company that owns three airplanes, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. Solera National Bank separately owns two other airplanes and a helicopter, according to the FAA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unclear why the company would need to own an entire fleet of personal aircraft,\u201d Salazar\u2019s lawsuit states, referring to the bank. \u201cCurrently, the company owns more aircrafts than it has members on the board. There can be no legitimate business purpose for doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Quagliano disagrees. He said that Solera is a bank that \u201cspecializes in aviation\u201d by lending money to people in that industry and also by making money from its own planes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe planes that he\u2019s talking about, the five or six planes, most of those are leased to (flight) schools. It\u2019s a 100-percent tax deduction and we get a very, very good return,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Quagliano said that he flew commercial to Nuggets games rather than take the bank\u2019s aircraft.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t go on the corporate jets. Not that there\u2019s anything wrong with that,\u201d he said. \u201cI could have gone to all the games on the corporate jet and there\u2019d still be nothing wrong with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

By including the bank\u2019s private aircraft in his TikTok videos, Quagliano has allowed Salazar to track their use. In a June 15 post, he boards a plane with the registration number N420NW and uses hashtags like \u201c#denvernuggets\u201d and \u201c#courtsideseats.\u201d That plane is registered to Solera Aviation. His next TikTok video shows him in courtside seats at a Nuggets game.<\/p>\n

In both videos he is wearing what Salazar\u2019s lawsuit refers to as his \u201cinfamous red pants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about his sartorial moniker, Quagliano said, \u201cI wish I was famous for something other than my pants\u201d but added that the Nuggets\u2019 championship run was great for Solera.<\/p>\n

\u201cRed Pant Man has taken more deposits and made more loans than he ever has,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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