Filing reveals 95 Hecker creditors

Denny Hecker owes a lot of people a lot of money.

Court documents filed this week list 95 creditors of the bankrupt auto mogul. Amounts are not listed but are expected to be disclosed soon.

Hecker filed for personal bankruptcy last Thursday, stating that he owes up to $1 billion to possibly as many as 1,000 creditors. More filings are expected this month.

For now, it is known that he owes a slew of auto finance firms, banks and business owners across the country.

Creditors include the Bellagio and Mirage hotel-casinos in Las Vegas; Nevada State Bank; the city of Aspen, Colo.; his longtime jeweler, Royal Jewelers, and his business attorneys at Kaplan Strangis & Kaplan and Briggs & Morgan. He also owes the Minnesota Department of Revenue; Cessna Aircraft Co.; St. Croix Yacht Club; CenterPoint Energy, CrossLake Property Solutions (which cares for his $12 million properties in Cross Lake, Minn.) and Champps restaurant owner and business partner Wayne Belisle.

Hecker's largest creditors are expected to be auto financers, including Toyota Financial Services, GMAC and Chrysler Financial. Chrysler Financial won a $477 million judgment against him last month. Hyundai Motor Finance Co., which is also listed, has sued Hecker for $104 million in defaulted loans. Another creditor, GE Capital, recently sued Hecker for $7.2 million and requested that the court repossess his corporate jet.

Other entities owed money include GMAC Mortgage, which helped finance Hecker's widely advertised but now defunct mortgage business.

Bank creditors include J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, TCF National Bank, M&I Bank, Premier Banks, Northwoods Bank, Alliance Bank, American Bank, Anchor Bank, Associated Bank, Bremer Bank, Klein Bank in Savage, World Omni Financial in Florida, Encore Bank in Florida and the Iowa-based Bank of the West, the largest creditor listed under Hecker's bankrupt Advantage Rent A Car company.

Under separate bankruptcy filings, Advantage reported that it lost $43 million last year, has $87.6 million in liabilities and $43 million in assets. Bank of the West alone is owed more than $10 million. A portion of Advantage was sold in May to Hertz for $30 million, a discounted price that's left a long list of creditors waiting at the door.

The first meeting of creditors for Hecker's personal bankruptcy will be July 15 at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Kressel has been assigned the case.

Hecker's financial downfall began a year ago when auto sales slowed and he began shutting several used car dealerships. In October, his largest financing partner, Chrysler Financial, pulled his credit line, forcing him to close or sell several dealerships. Chrysler and Ford subsequently sued and won judgments for $477 million and $3.15 million, respectively. General Motors later shut off his credit line, forcing more store closures.

While Hecker largely blames Chrysler Financial for his financial downfall, car buyers and business associates blame Hecker, whom they say was highly leveraged and living the good life -- vacationing in Mexico, eating at pricey restaurants and zipping around in a corporate jet that he no longer could afford. His jet and yacht have been for sale for months.

Hecker still owes millions to vendors, fellow dealers and former employees who were let go with less than the required 60 days' notice. Several car customers complained that Hecker abandoned them when his financial world collapsed. Dick Daniels of Coon Rapids said his son and daughter-in-law are still owed a title for the 2006 Cadillac they bought in April for $15,000. Daniels went to Hecker's Stillwater Cadillac to pick up the car with the newly married couple. The vehicle's title would follow in 10 days, they were told.

But just seven days later, Hecker closed the dealership, leaving General Motors to repossess the inventory and customers like the Daniels still waiting for vehicle titles.

"Everybody is all feeling sorry for this rich guy. But, hey, he just ripped these kids off," Daniels said. "If he knew he was going out of business, he should have taken care of business."

Daniels said the family is working with the state and hopes to get its title soon. If not, they, too, will be headed to court.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725