[StBernard] $12M debt dogs assistant district attorney

[Westley Annis]

CHALMETTE - Glenn Diaz was an assistant district attorney, a 30-year lawyer
with a private practice and the owner of a well-known metal home business
pre-Katrina. 
But now he owes more than $12 million to banks and other investors. "Nobody
can find him," said John Taranto, who oversees serving of subpoenas for the
St. Bernard sheriff's office. 
  
Diaz says he's living openly in Jackson, Miss., in a one-bedroom deer camp
made of two construction office trailers. 
  
But he's "on the verge of (financial) collapse." 
  
Everything he had in St. Bernard - a home in Meraux, his private law firm
and his Arabi business, MetalPro Industries - was washed away by Katrina, he
said. 
  
Diaz said he hasn't been dodging the courts or his debts. He's been in
contact with creditors and trying to arrange payments, he said. 
  
"We have three major banks that we've worked with. We've worked things out
where everyone is going to be paid," Diaz said. "I'm not hiding or running
away. I'm just as much of a flood victim as anyone you've ever met." 
  
The 55-year-old Diaz was swamped by debt stemming from the financial ruin of
MetalPro. 
  
He owes Central Progressive Bank nearly $60,000, Whitney National Bank $12.2
million and thousands to Diagnostic Management Affiliates, a company that
financed medical services for Diaz's private law practice. 
  
Diaz said his private law practice at 2200 Jackson Blvd. is on hold,
MetalPro is shut down and he has taken a leave of absence from the district
attorney's office where was an assistant prosecutor since 1979. 
  
Until St. Bernard Parish resumes jury trials - there aren't enough people in
the parish to convene a proper jury - Diaz, who headed the jury trail
docket, said he will not draw a paycheck from the district attorney's
office. 
  
"I do not have one single belonging left since Katrina. But I have my
integrity," he said. 
MetalPro could help rebuild the hurricane-torn Gulf Coast with modular steel
homes if the business could get back on its feet, Diaz said. 
  
"We have contracts to build 5,000 homes in inner city New Orleans, which are
needed for poor folks to come back," he said. 
  
When established roughly four years ago on St. Bernard port property,
MetalPro offered steel-framed homes already in wide use other parts of the
country. 
  
"Historically, this has obviously been a stick-build lumber region," said
Jon Luther, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of
Greater New Orleans. 
MetalPro employed 80 people before Katrina, Diaz said. The future was
bright. 
"We had orders for 26,000 homes before the storm," Diaz said. "Every debt I
had was up to the minute, current." 
  
Then Katrina pushed 11.5 feet of water into his home. While he helped save
"a lot of people" with his boat after Katrina, Diaz said the government
won't help him. 
He applied for Small Business Administration loans and help from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture but got nothing. 
  
"I just get kicked in the teeth by my government. No one has helped," he
said. 
Diaz said he has not filed for bankruptcy for MetalPro. But as bills go
unpaid, banks and others are suing him over his lack of responsiveness. 
  
"We haven't been able to serve him yet with the suit. There's been no
resolution of the suit," said Lawrence Anderson, an attorney for Central
Progressive Bank. 
Diaz said he has been in contact with Charles Watts, Anderson's colleague
and another attorney for Central Progressive Bank. 
  
But Anderson said Watts never received a direct call from Diaz. He said one
of Diaz's former employees called Watts July 17 to say an SBA loan was being
sought to pay off the debt, Anderson said. 
  
When no payment arrived by Aug. 31, the attorneys resumed trying to serve
Diaz the lawsuit, Anderson said. 
  
Diaz said it's not his fault he's not living or working in St. Bernard
Parish so he can easily be served a lawsuit. 
  
"When they walk across the street and I'm not there, (that) doesn't mean the
three lawsuits in my life are not addressed," he said. "Why do I need to get
served if I've already filed pleadings and addressed them? 
  
Diaz said he plans to pay all his creditors in full, which means he will
have to sell off property he owns in St. Bernard and other states. 
  
"I have not asked for mercy or to cut anything," he said. "I haven't been
hiding."