SunTrust sues Pat Robertson over refinery project

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By Tom Shean
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 2, 2009

NORFOLK

Fallout from Pat Robertson's efforts to revive a mothballed California refinery in the late 1990s still lingers.

SunTrust Banks Inc. is seeking more than $3.6 million from Robertson that it says relates to the aborted refinery project.

In a suit filed Thursday in federal court in Norfolk, SunTrust said the Regent University chancellor and president refused to reimburse the bank for payments and litigation costs related to his acquisitions of an aging refinery and an oil terminal south of Los Angeles.

SunTrust said one of its predecessor banks, Richmond-based Crestar, provided a letter of credit to Golden West Refining Co. in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., in 1998 on behalf of the Robertson-controlled company Cenco Inc. Its standby letter of credit for $5 million was intended to protect Golden West against possible environmental obligations involving the Huntington Beach Marine Terminal and related assets that Cenco bought.

Cenco's sole shareholder is the Robertson Charitable Remainder Unitrust, and Robertson is the trustee, SunTrust said. Crestar provided the letter of credit because Robertson's trust at the time was thought to have marketable securities worth nearly $100 million, the suit said.

Robertson said in a statement Friday that his trust sold the refinery more than five years ago. "While we have not yet seen the complaint, we do not believe there is any obligation owing to SunTrust," he said.

While trying to upgrade the refinery, Cenco encountered myriad challenges from environmental regulators over air-quality and hazardous-waste issues. In 2002, the company reached a $1 million settlement with the California Environmental Protection Agency and agreed to remove thousands of barrels of contaminated water, oil and solids from deteriorating refinery tanks for treatment.

Tom Shean, (757) 446-2379, tom.shean@pilotonline.com

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Kingskid

Submitted by aalto on Sat, 05/02/2009 at 7:57 pm.

"Maybe a good Pilot reporter could dig into it for us."

Too bad we don't have any.

Priorities

Submitted by EvanJ on Sat, 05/02/2009 at 3:41 pm.

Well now, how on earth could SunTrust overlook a debt of this amount for so long?

Good question, and I would guess a change in priorities. SunTrust probably needs more cash on the books, so someone in upper management sent down a general order to review and pursue old issues. They probably looked at it before but considered the cost of going to court not worth it compared to the chance of winning any money.

Pat's debt to SunTrust

Submitted by Kingskid on Sat, 05/02/2009 at 1:27 pm.

Well now, how on earth could SunTrust overlook a debt of this amount for so long?! Banks do not let debts of this magnitude just fall through the cracks, nor do they wait so long to try to collect them. You can be sure that we haven't been given all the information. Maybe a good Pilot reporter could dig into it for us.

Wouldn't want that

Submitted by EvanJ on Sat, 05/02/2009 at 11:36 am.

We wouldn't want anything that creates jobs or anything. What were they thinking?

From Diamond mines to Oil

Submitted by jm69288 on Sat, 05/02/2009 at 9:04 am.

From Diamond mines to Oil refineries.........we know what Pat really worships.

Agreed it's a bad move by the bank.

Submitted by moose on Sat, 05/02/2009 at 8:17 am.

But would you expect someone who tries to pass himself off as a fine Christian example to not pay the loans he is responsible for? I think most of us have known for decades that Pat Robertson is anything but a fine Christian. I've known for years he's one of the best con-artist in the business. He may have started with good intentions but early on his true god changed to money. His followers are examples of just how gullible humans are. The worst part of this instance is that all of the rest of us will be paying for Robertson's stealing these funds. You don't have to rob someone with a gun to be a crook. If you see a dollar bill fall from someones pocket and don't give it back to that person, you're still a crook. If you take a loan from someone and don't pay it back, you're still a crook. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes and have to answer for the things he has done when his life on this earth is done.