WHERE'S LAVERICK? Reports blame immigration for Tiger Hotel owner absence

Are immigration officials detaining U.K./Canadian impresario?

 

COLUMBIA, 6/30/12 (Beat Byte) -- "Immigration delays" may be preventing Tiger Hotel owner Glyn Laverick from re-entering the United States after an extended trip abroad, multiple sources close to the situation have told the Columbia Heart Beat.

 

Laverick took over the tax increment financing (TIF)-subsidized project in February 2011 on the heals of dual troubles: his own, after a string of failed projects in Missouri, Canada, and the U.K.; and the TIF project itself, plagued by financing and other delays prior to Laverick's purchase.

 

A June 20 KOMU story listed other taxpayer subsidies Laverick is receiving, including "several installments from a federal tax credit partner for qualified rehabilitation expenditures (QRE) costs like plumbing lines" and "an additional 25% from a Missouri state tax credit given the hotel due to its historical nature."

Reports that Laverick had encountered problems with immigration services, either in the U.S. or U.K., first surfaced in May. Out of the country since late March, Laverick told the Heart Beat he was visiting a sick family member and would return "in early June."

 

Partner Dan Johnson acknowledged to KOMU that Laverick is still away but that his absence is "not impacting the hotel's renovation in any way."

 

The Tiger Hotel's former security chief and V2 nightclub manager, Robert Powell, filed suit against Laverick and his partners this month, claiming nearly $10,000 in unpaid back wages.