Bank sues former Baltimore mayor for $2 million

BALTIMORE (CN) — An Indiana-based bank sued former Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Wednesday, claiming that she owes $2.1 million for a commercial loan.

Old National Bank says in itslawsuit seeking a confessed judgment that Rawlings-Blake signed an unconditional guaranty for the loan, meaning that she would pay back the money if the businesses did not.

“The defendant absolutely, unconditionally and irrevocably guarantees repayment of the note pursuant to a U.S. Small Business Administration Unconditional Guarantee dated November 8, 2023, from the defendant in favor of the lender,” the bank wrote.

The $2 million loan, backed by the Small Business Administration and made on November 8, 2023 by Capstar Bank at an interest rate of prime plus three percent, was set to mature in 10 years, with $28,000 monthly payments.

According to court documents, early payments were made, but they stopped in May 2023. Late fees have piled up and interest is accruing at $562 per day.

The bank notes that Rawlings-Blake did not respond to two demand letters for the amounts.

Rawlings-Blake, who was mayor of Baltimore from 2010 to 2016, is listed on loan documents as president of Gulf Coast Technology Corporation, and manager of Buy MBE, the two companies that purportedly received the loan proceeds.

According to its website, Buy MBE is a majority minority-owned business-to-business company that “introduces local and midsized businesses to Fortune 500 buyers utilizing a unified procurement platform," and cites Rawlings-Blake’s mayoral experience for its platform and app.

That company and Gulf Coast Technology are domiciled at the same Baton Rouge address, and linked to Kevin Pomerleau, who did not immediately respond to an email and text from Courthouse News. His phone’s voicemail box was full.

Rawlings-Blake did not list the businesses on her LinkedIn page. She has operated a consultancy called SRB Associates, which was forfeited for failing to file forms in 2019. That company website resolves toher Instagram page. She could not immediately be reached for comment.

Rawlings-Blake took the mayor’s office in 2010 after the former mayor, Sheila Dixon, resigned amid her criminal prosecution involving stolen gift cards. She left office in 2016 in the wake of riots and later briefly served as spokeswoman for rapper Travis Scott. She previously headed the United States Conference of Mayors and served as secretary of the Democratic National Committee.

Her successor, former Mayor Catherine Pugh, was later convicted and sent to prison on federal corruption charges involving the sale of children’s books she authored.