Charles Adderly had hoped his fighting days were behind him. The World War II veteran remembers what happened on D-Day, but he doesn’t like to.
“There are memories,” Adderly, 93, said. “I get emotional when I think about what I witnessed.”
The fight Adderly and other military veterans from American Legion Post 29 are in now is to find out what happened to money their post had from the lease of some valuable land.
Three years ago, the post voted to allow the demolition of the building and leased the land at Biscayne Bay and 62 Street to a developer for $4 million. Down the road they'll get a new post inside the development. But, now they told NBC 6 they've got an immediate problem. “We're still trying to find out what happened to the money,” said Adderly.
“They were supposed to be doing well. We’re supposed to have this trust fund with this $4 million that’s in it,” said Patrick Montoya, an attorney for the American Legion Post 29. “Now we look at the bank statement and it’s well under $50,000 and that’s what we are asking - where’s the money?”
The veterans were in court Tuesday asking to find out about their money from Miami Lakes financial investor, Robert Henderson.
The Post members in their legal action allege Henderson, who is on the trust set up to handle the funds, isn’t following Florida law and giving them information on the funds.
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“This is veterans for veterans. This is veteran money. These aren't folks that are rolling around in money. They have served their country,” said Montoya.
But Henderson’s attorney, Marva Wiley, says the veterans’ money is safe.
“The money is all in place,” Wiley said. “It is in a combination of investments and it is in a BB & T account and a Bank United account. There is a balance sheet that itemizes each line item and where the assets are held.”
The judge ordered an independent financial auditor to get involved and report the findings back to him.
