Emmet Moten
Charlie LeDuff kicks off a "Deadbeat of the Week" segment on Fox 2 News by quizzing politically connected developer Emmet Moten about $170,000 in property taxes owed for the Fort Shelby DoubleTree Hotel downtown.
He has until Monday at 5 p.m. to pay at least $65,000 of the back property tax or the Wayne County Treasurer's Office will foreclose on the hotel.
The newsman's two-minute report notes that Moten, dubbed "a high roller" who heads a political action committee supporting Mayor Dave Bing, got federal help refurbishing the high-rise hotel on West Lafayette Boulevard.
His company received a $3.5 million, HUD-backed loan to renovate the hotel. Almost four years later, the loan has not been paid back. That takes away urban renewal money to fix the neighborhoods.
Moten assures LeDuff his tax and loan debts will be "all taken care of."
