(7 of 8)
M.D.C.'s Mizel was even more active in fund raising. Besides organizing the Denver luncheon for President Reagan, he directed a steady stream of dollars to state and national politicians, including Colorado Governor Roy Romer, a Democrat. Lawyer Brownstein, nicknamed Mr. Fixit, was a top Democratic rainmaker who arranged a Denver fund raiser in 1987 for Michigan Senator Don Riegle; Riegle is one of the Senators called the Keating Five for having received sizable contributions from the scandal-tarred head of Lincoln Savings. Of $37,000 raised for Riegle, $10,000 came from 16 people connected to Silverado and M.D.C.
By this time Silverado managers had little doubt about what was coming, even though their doors were still open. In January 1988 Wise asked the board of directors, including Bush, to sign a letter to the federal regulators asking that Silverado's charter be amended so they could take advantage of a state law under which corporate boards can exempt themselves from personal liability if they are found to have breached their fiduciary duties.
By August 1988 neither regulatory forbearance nor political clout could disguise Silverado's woes: the company announced a $200 million loss. Wise began publicly looking for a buyer to bail out the company. Silverado was insolvent, and Bush glibly announced that he was resigning because his father had been nominated as the Republican presidential candidate. On Oct. 24 the Colorado regulators notified their federal counterparts in Topeka that the hemorrhaging Silverado would be shut down at the end of the month.
Inexplicably, Washington officials declined to go along. Mowbray's Topeka office relayed a message back to the Colorado regulators: hold off for a while. The day after George Bush was elected, the Topeka office started proceedings to shut down Silverado. The glaring coincidence has never been officially explained. Mowbray has said that he had received a phone call "from Washington" requesting the Silverado delay. He claims that he cannot remember who called.
M. Danny Wall, the chief S&L regulator at the time, resolutely denies accusations that the delay was for political reasons. But James Moroney, a former supervisory analyst with the bank board in Topeka, has declared publicly that concern about Neil Bush "was a material part of unconscionable delays in taking over Silverado."
Colorado state officials seized Silverado in December 1988 and turned it over to federal regulators, who reopened it as a reborn Mile High Federal S&L and later sold it to First Nationwide Savings Bank, a subsidiary of Ford Motor. Investigators are trying to track the assets of the high-living Walters and Good, who claim they are broke. So far the investigators have found 174 trust funds linked to Good, who apparently still has staunch friends in Colorado. The Denver Economic Development Agency has just awarded a $100,000 development grant to Good Enterprises.
Neil Bush explained that he had joined the Silverado board for the "learning experience." But just what he learned is not clear. After he folded JNB, he opened yet another oil-exploration firm, Apex Energy. That firm too is underwritten by silent backers. And although he has found no gushers yet, Bush was able to purchase a $550,000 house in one of Denver's best neighborhoods last October.