Chippendale Requests Corso, Esten for Hearing on 38 Studios
Thursday, May 01, 2014
Representative Mike Chippendale, Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Secretary of House Oversight, has requested both Michael Corso and Sean Esten to appear before the Oversight Committee regarding the 38 Studios bond approval.
Corso served as lawyer and consultant for 38 Studios. Esten was a former Financial Portfolio Manager for the RI Economic Development Corporation.
“Michael Corso certainly would be a valuable witness for the Oversight Committee. Folks who follow Rhode Island politics are likely familiar with this attorneys’ name. Mr. Corso is directly mentioned throughout the 38 Studios documentation, but is also vaguely alluded to in others. I have every reason to believe he is capable of clearly explaining his role in this deal.” continued Chippendale.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAccordng to Chippendale, Esten's responsibily was to assess the financial “pros and cons” of loaning 75 million dollars to Shilling’s business, 38 Studios and had raised red flags throughout the assessment process.
Rep. Chippendale said,“Mr. Esten plainly laid out financial concerns that did not require a finance degree for the leadership of the EDC to understand. He correctly pointed to the improbability of a start-up operating on loaned revenue, hitting all the financial milestones in the overly aggressive and frankly unrealistic business plan.”
“I know that all taxpayers will be interested in learning who else within RIEDC Mr. Esten had raised his concerns to in addition to the individuals that we have email documentation on. I think we need to learn if he also shared those concerns with others who had a different role to play in the process. The question for Mr. Esten that quickly comes to mind is; how his analyses were treated by his superiors, whether or not they were acknowledged, debated or just summarily dismissed.”
“Make no mistake, our committee has the power and authority to compel testimony through subpoenas - and we will not hesitate to go that route if we are stonewalled at any juncture by anyone the committee has requested an appearance by,” added Chippendale.
Chippendale said,“This loan package was prepared without the necessary attention to the company’s ability to survive long enough to generate revenue from its product. I owe it to my constituents - and all Rhode Island taxpayers to get answers to the burning questions regarding this fiasco.”
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