Thursday, July 23, 2015

Westfield Mayor Andy Cook's Trucking Business Set For Sheriff's Sale Next Month

Who read anything in any mainstream media reports during this past May's Westfield municipal primary election about Mayor Andy Cook's business, Hoosier Tradewinds, Inc. being foreclosed upon for debts of over $2.7 million owed, as well as unpaid taxes owed to the federal and state government? Well, it was. Hamilton Superior Court Judge William Hughes signed an order on June 17 of this year for the sale of the property at a sheriff's sale on August 20, 2015 to satisfy the debt upon which Mayor Cook's business defaulted nearly 18 months ago. Mayor Cook's son, Benjamin, is also a partner with him in the business.

Advance Indiana is told this includes about 80 acres of land on 236th Street in Arcadia, including about five acres where Hoosier Tradewinds built its trucking company business and another 75 acres operating under the name Bakers Corner Project, LLC. Cook's business was represented in the foreclosure suit by the law firm of Church Church Hittle & Antrim. The lender which foreclosed on the debt was TBF-CCA #1, LLC of Deerfield, Illinois. Their local registered agent is Ronald Brodey of Indianapolis.

Barnes & Thornburg represented the lender in the foreclosure action. In addition to the U.S. government and the Indiana Department of Revenue, other creditors named in the suit included: GE Capital, Dell Financial, Daimler Trust, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, Midwest Express, Inc., Eric Stoltz, Transportation Alliance Bank and Personal Attention Leasing.

Want to hear another interesting tale? Guess who the Court appointed as a receiver for Mayor Cook's business. That would be Anker Receivership Group, LLC, whose principal is none other than Terry Anker, the publisher of those local rags known as Current In Westfield, Current In Carmel, Current In Fishers, Current In Noblesville et al, which are nothing more than mouthpieces for corrupt municipal officials and their political cronies who control every major suburban city surrounding Indianapolis lock, stock and barrel. Does anyone think Mr. Anker's news publications might have a conflict of interest? Should we be surprised his publication made no issue of the personal financial woes facing Mayor Cook during his re-election campaign? Advance Indiana exclusively reported on the hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax liens filed against Mayor Cook's business by the IRS last February, a fact ignored by the local news media as he sought re-election to another four-year term.

I guess I should cut Anker some slack. The Indianapolis Star's Chris Sikich knew about it as well, along with many other local news reporters and refused to report on it. It's just another example of how you can no longer depend on your local newspaper or TV news stations to report the truth to you. A free and vibrant press is a dying breed in this country.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

"A free and vibrant press is a dying breed in this country."

I work with an intelligent guy...a number of them, in fact. They're bright in so many ways, but they are so vested in the status quo that they simply refuse to see what is happening or speak out against it. They don't seem to understand that just because TPTB haven't come for them yet doesn't mean that they're not coming. They most assuredly are.

People like this scare me more than the Kardashian crowd. They are smart enough to speak up but too cowardly to do so. They deserve what awaits them. I only wish they were on our side because they're strong and know how to work the system. Too bad they just can't let go of the system's teet. I hope they're left hanging for their crimes with the rest of them on that day.

Sir Hailstone said...

Bankrupt - just like the City of Westfield will be in a few years. Westfield will need to annex all of the remaining property of Washington Township, and stack million dollar homes on top of one another to pay for what Mayor Andy has Cook-ed up for us (see what I did there?)

Anonymous said...

The real crime is the media's failure to report about Cook's company beating his truck drivers out of their wages while advertising himself as a "Christian-owned business."

Anonymous said...

So Church Church Hittle & Antrim is representing Mayor Cook's private business interests and the City's official business at the same time? Is that kosher?

Gary R. Welsh said...

I'm not familiar with that firm's relationship with the City of Westfield. If that is the case, there is a potential for conflicts which should be addressed in their formal engagement agreement.

Anonymous said...

Gary, this article is the perfect reason I look to Advance Indiana when I want real news. I know of Cook's less than ethically methods of municipal politics but, wow, this is just astounding. I always realized our Carmel Current paper was a worthless POS that pandered to the corrupt Jim Brainard and our utterly useless Carmel Council. Why my ex-CHS buddy would even sell adverts for that crappy paper is beyond me; what a step-down from the grocery biz. THANKS for a rich report!

Anonymous said...

You are right -- Terry Anker is a stooge -- he's one of Brainard's lap dogs (his wife was on the Carmel Redevelopment Commission when it nearly went under with all of its fiscal profligacy) and he is nothing but a lapdog for Brainard (as is that awful newspaper Current in Carmel) How he managed to get a job at the Legacy Fund which otherwise has a competent staff) is beyond me. That column he writes in Current in Carmel is just awful -- I call it the Seinfeld column -- it's about nothing....he somehow thinks he is insightful, but manages to offer just the most basic of bullshit -- and he is a bad writer to boot.

I remember him from the 1990's when he worked on one of Goldsmith's projects looking at rules and regulations....and despite what his online resume says, there was no such thing as the Marion County Regulatory Commmission and he certainly did not lead it. As I recall he was assigned to the Health and Hospital Corporation under Mitch Roob and they did look at various county regulations, but this is a case of resume padding....repeat -- there was no such thing as the Marion County Regulatory Commission. He mostly spent his time "networking" and did very little of substance. And his resume says he is on the board of Ivy Tech -- he is on the Board of the Ivy Tech Foundation which is a totally different creature.

Anonymous said...

Why is this not being reported anywhere but this blog? The local newspaper that published the sheriff's sale notice didn't even consider it a newsworthy story. Makes you wonder what else we're not being told by the media.

Anonymous said...

http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/hoosier-tradewinds/arcadia-Indiana-46030/hoosier-tradewinds-Tradewinds-bounced-paycheck-non-complaint-equipment-lied-about-ins-776646

It's been a shady business for a while providing this is accurate.

Anonymous said...

I'm wondering if any Shamrock PAC money comes into play here. $99k for re-election campaign? Seems high for a city of 33,000.

Kevin A Swartz, MD said...

What is the source for Anker being the receiver of this sale? I'd like to see that to help me tie all this together. Thanks :)

Gary R. Welsh said...

The online government court records for the foreclosure case filed in Hamilton County has a court entry appointing Anker's company as the receiver. Go to mycase.in.gov and enter this cause number: CAUSE #: 29D03-1403-MF-2247

Unknown said...

Prime example of a wolf on sheep clothing.
This people have built their foundation on sand, the storm and sand are already destroying the rubble in pieces and dragging the pieces till nothing is left.