David Lewis Paul (May 1, 1939 – January 18, 2022) was an American banker, real estate developer, philanthropist, and founder of CenTrust Bank.
Biography Paul was born in on May 1, 1939, in MiamiFlorida Trend Magazine: "Florida Icon - David L. Paul, Former chairman, CenTrust Savings Bank, age 71" by Mike Vogel July 1, 2010 to a Jewish family, the son of Ruth (née Goldstein) and Isadore Paul.Washington Post: "The Banker's Toppled Tower" by Myra MacPherson March 19, 1990 His father founded a chain of dry cleaning stores and died when he was ten. His mother then moved with her two sons to Scranton, Pennsylvania. Paul graduated from the Cheshire Academy in Cheshire, Connecticut and then the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
He started his career in Connecticut where his company, Paul Properties, built two controversial apartment buildings. He then took control of a Massachusetts Real Estate Investment Trust called the Westport Company. In 1979, Westport purchased the American Furniture Mart in Chicago for $6.5 million with plans to convert it into apartments.Chicago Tribune: "Developer Charges Bank Sabotaged 666 Project" by David Ibata March 04, 1985 In 1983, Paul purchased the near bankrupt Dade Savings and Loan Association through the transfer of 92% of his interest in Westport, renaming it CenTrust Bank. By 1988, CenTrust was the largest thrift institution in the southeastern United States with $8.2 billion in assets. He built the $90 million, I.M. Pei-designed CenTrust Tower. In November 1988, he was admitted to the Non-Group, a highly influential group of Miami-Dade business elites.:
In 1989, CenTrust lost $119 million and in 1990, Centrust lost $1.7 billion and was seized by the federal governmentNew York Times: "Ex-Chief of Centrust Bank Is Convicted on 68 Charges" November 25, 1993 after "excessive and inappropriate expenses and investments." Paul was ousted as chairman.
Conviction On November 25, 1993, Paul was convicted of fraud in Federal Court for making personal use of CenTrust's funds while the savings and loan was failing. Paul was convicted on 68 counts consisting of 47 counts of bank fraud, 9 of misapplication of Centrust funds, 5 of filing false tax returns, 4 of mail fraud, 2 of obstruction of regulators, one count of conspiracy and one count of making false entries on Centrust books. Facing a maximum of 350 years in prison he was sentenced to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $65 million ($60 million in restitution and a $5 million fine).New York Times: "11-Year Sentence for Chief of Failed S.& L." December 2, 1994 He was released in 2004.Orlando Sentinel: "Icon of S&I Extravagance, David Paul, Revels in freedom" by Maya Bell August 3, 2004
Philanthropy and political contributions Paul donated $500,000 to the University of Miami and $100,000 to Barry University. Paul served as the head of the governing body of Jackson Memorial Hospital. Through his CenTrust Political Action Committee, Paul donated to both Joe Biden's and Richard Gephardt's presidential campaigns as well as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Personal life Paul was married three times. In 1965, he married Lynn Pamela Goelet of the influential Huguenot Goelet family in a Jewish ceremony at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan; they had two sons, Michael and David, before they divorced. He was introduced to his second wife, Joy Fererh Germont Simons (sister of composer Bruce Wolosoff) by fellow real estate developer and sometimes partner Sol Atlas; they divorced 2 months later.St. Louis Post-Dispatch: " 'Extraordinary Tragedy' Of Judge Sol Wachtler" November 18, 1992 | "she married again. This time it was to David Paul, a divorced real estate developer and financial wunderkind who would be indicted years later in the Bush administration savings and loan scandal. They were introduced by her father's friend and sometime partner, mega-developer Sol Atlas. The marriage began in a Las Vegas wedding parlor and ended in annulment in Santo Domingo in less than two months"New York Times: "Judge and Heiress: The Rise and Fall of a Private Affair" by Catherine S. Manegold November 15, 1992 Paul's third marriage was to Sandy Paul; they had one daughter, Deanna, before divorcing and she remarried real estate developer Stephen Muss.Fool's Paradise: Players, Poseurs, and the Culture of Excess in South Beach By Steven Gaines pages 100 -110
Paul died from COVID-19 related causes on the morning of January 18, 2022, at Mt. Sinai hospital in New York City.
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