Continental Wingate Company, Inc. (Specimen)

The Continental Wingate Company was a real estate company in Needham, Massachusetts, that also rehabilitated dilapidated buildings in New York and Massachusetts with Federal subsidies, tax breaks and low-interest loans. Starting in the early 1970's, Continental Wingate and its limited partners renovated the 38 buildings that compromised New York’s Beekman Houses with federally subsidized mortgages and later rent subsidies. But the company was also dogged by complaints and investigations. In the late 1970's, then-Assemblyman Charles E. Schumer led a legislative panel that investigated the financing of Beekman Houses and conditions in the buildings.

In 1999, according to an audit by the Inspector General's Office at HUD, company President Gerald Schuster (whose printed signature appears on this piece) and his companies siphoned $1.4 million in funds from the complex to pay company employees and to repay loans to his own companies. Some of the funds were also diverted to other investments.

Mr. Schuster and his wife, Elaine, contributed to, and raised enormous sums for, the Democrats in Massachusetts and nationally. In 1998, President Clinton attended a $5,000-a-plate fundraising dinner at the home of the Schusters in Boston.

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Close Up of Vignette:




Certificate: Common Stock Certificate, specimen, 1970’s

Printer: American Bank Note Company

Dimensions: 8” (h) x 12” (w)

State: MA-Massachusetts

Subject Matter: Real Estate and Related | Scandals and Collapses | Specimen Pieces

Vignette Topic(s): Map Featured | Company Logo Featured

Condition: No fold lines, punch hole cancels in the signature areas and body, and some toning from age.