thedrifter
02-28-09, 07:04 AM
March 1, 2009
A Hole in One That Feels More Like a Sand Trap
By JOE WOJTAS
LAST September, when Lou Montello made a hole in one at the Marine Corps League’s golf tournament in Stamford and won $20,000, he called his wife, Rosemarie, from the course.
“Guess what, Sweetheart? You’re going to get that bracelet you wanted,” he told her.
But a week later, before he could buy the $5,000 piece of jewelry, Mr. Montello got a call from the apologetic organizer of the charity tournament, who told him he would not be getting his money.
That, state officials say, is because Kevin Kolenda, the Norwalk man who owns the company that sold hole-in-one insurance to the tournament, refused to pay the $20,000 to Mr. Montello, as well as an additional $20,000 that was to go to the Marine Corps League in the event of a hole in one. The league, a nonprofit organization, had planned to use the money to help Marines overseas and those who return home with injuries.
Lux Bond & Green, the West Hartford-based jewelry store chain, said the same thing happened in 2007 with the par-3 16th hole it sponsored at the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship in Cromwell. Bo Van Pelt, a professional golfer, aced the hole and won $20,000 in jewelry from the Italian designer Roberto Coin. Lux Bond & Green made good on the prize but was unable to collect on its insurance policy with Mr. Kolenda.
Now, the Connecticut Insurance Department has fined Mr. Kolenda $5.9 million for failing to pay claims on coverage he sold on prizes at golf tournaments, other sporting events and advertising promotions.
Thomas R. Sullivan, the state insurance commissioner, had accused Mr. Kolenda of operating without a license and engaging in unfair business practices and appealed for those “who have been duped by Mr. Kolenda and his sham organizations” to contact him.
Connecticut’s attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Marine Corps League chapter in Stamford, has also filed a lawsuit against Mr. Kolenda and his firm, Hole-In-Won Worldwide.
“If Hole-In-Won’s illegality is allowed to stand, the losers will be wounded warriors whom the Marine Corps League sought to benefit through its golf tournament,” Mr. Blumenthal said. “Hole-in-Won made the worst possible choice in victims by scamming the Marines. The company betrayed its promise and dropped the ball when a hole in one happened.”
Mr. Kolenda, who continues to operate Hole-in-Won Worldwide, said Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Blumenthal are “bullying a mom-and-pop business” that has been operating for 25 years with hundreds of satisfied customers. He said he had paid out a million dollars in prize money.
Mr. Kolenda said Lux Bond & Green did not pay him until two days after the tournament while the Marine Corps League did not pay him at all. League officials said Mr. Kolenda told them they did not have to pay until after the tournament and when they sent him a check for $350 to pay for the insurance, he refused to accept it.
Mr. Kolenda also said there is no state law that says he has to be licensed to sell hole-in-one insurance.
Seven years ago, the State Insurance Department ordered Mr. Kolenda to stop selling the insurance and fined him $9,000. A department spokeswoman, Dawn McDaniel, said her agency thought Mr. Kolenda had been complying until it received the most recent complaints, from Lux Bond & Green and the Marine Corps League. During the seven years since it fined him, the Insurance Department said, Mr. Kolenda has negotiated at least 41 similar contracts in the state. He has also been the subject of similar complaints and fines in other states, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina and Washington State among them.
Mike Loughran, the Marine Corps League member who organized the tournament, said he hired Mr. Kolenda because he had seen that his firm was used in other tournaments in which he had played.
“It takes a real special person to rip off troops in a time of war,” said Mr. Loughran, a retired Stamford police detective.
The experience was not as troubling for Lux Bond & Green, which had used Mr. Kolenda for years to insure the prizes it offers on two of the par-3 holes in the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. The company said Mr. Kolenda kept asking for more information but then did not respond to its request for the money.
“It didn’t affect our financial condition, but you never want to lose that kind of money,” said Dave Bonney, Lux Bond & Green’s chief financial officer. “Hopefully we’ll be able to collect someday.”
Mr. Montello, meanwhile, is not blaming the Marine Corps League, but he still hopes to get his money and buy that bracelet for his wife.
“I know all these guys. What are you going to do?” he said. “You let them do the best they can. I’m sure they can come up with a solution.”
Ellie
A Hole in One That Feels More Like a Sand Trap
By JOE WOJTAS
LAST September, when Lou Montello made a hole in one at the Marine Corps League’s golf tournament in Stamford and won $20,000, he called his wife, Rosemarie, from the course.
“Guess what, Sweetheart? You’re going to get that bracelet you wanted,” he told her.
But a week later, before he could buy the $5,000 piece of jewelry, Mr. Montello got a call from the apologetic organizer of the charity tournament, who told him he would not be getting his money.
That, state officials say, is because Kevin Kolenda, the Norwalk man who owns the company that sold hole-in-one insurance to the tournament, refused to pay the $20,000 to Mr. Montello, as well as an additional $20,000 that was to go to the Marine Corps League in the event of a hole in one. The league, a nonprofit organization, had planned to use the money to help Marines overseas and those who return home with injuries.
Lux Bond & Green, the West Hartford-based jewelry store chain, said the same thing happened in 2007 with the par-3 16th hole it sponsored at the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship in Cromwell. Bo Van Pelt, a professional golfer, aced the hole and won $20,000 in jewelry from the Italian designer Roberto Coin. Lux Bond & Green made good on the prize but was unable to collect on its insurance policy with Mr. Kolenda.
Now, the Connecticut Insurance Department has fined Mr. Kolenda $5.9 million for failing to pay claims on coverage he sold on prizes at golf tournaments, other sporting events and advertising promotions.
Thomas R. Sullivan, the state insurance commissioner, had accused Mr. Kolenda of operating without a license and engaging in unfair business practices and appealed for those “who have been duped by Mr. Kolenda and his sham organizations” to contact him.
Connecticut’s attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Marine Corps League chapter in Stamford, has also filed a lawsuit against Mr. Kolenda and his firm, Hole-In-Won Worldwide.
“If Hole-In-Won’s illegality is allowed to stand, the losers will be wounded warriors whom the Marine Corps League sought to benefit through its golf tournament,” Mr. Blumenthal said. “Hole-in-Won made the worst possible choice in victims by scamming the Marines. The company betrayed its promise and dropped the ball when a hole in one happened.”
Mr. Kolenda, who continues to operate Hole-in-Won Worldwide, said Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Blumenthal are “bullying a mom-and-pop business” that has been operating for 25 years with hundreds of satisfied customers. He said he had paid out a million dollars in prize money.
Mr. Kolenda said Lux Bond & Green did not pay him until two days after the tournament while the Marine Corps League did not pay him at all. League officials said Mr. Kolenda told them they did not have to pay until after the tournament and when they sent him a check for $350 to pay for the insurance, he refused to accept it.
Mr. Kolenda also said there is no state law that says he has to be licensed to sell hole-in-one insurance.
Seven years ago, the State Insurance Department ordered Mr. Kolenda to stop selling the insurance and fined him $9,000. A department spokeswoman, Dawn McDaniel, said her agency thought Mr. Kolenda had been complying until it received the most recent complaints, from Lux Bond & Green and the Marine Corps League. During the seven years since it fined him, the Insurance Department said, Mr. Kolenda has negotiated at least 41 similar contracts in the state. He has also been the subject of similar complaints and fines in other states, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina and Washington State among them.
Mike Loughran, the Marine Corps League member who organized the tournament, said he hired Mr. Kolenda because he had seen that his firm was used in other tournaments in which he had played.
“It takes a real special person to rip off troops in a time of war,” said Mr. Loughran, a retired Stamford police detective.
The experience was not as troubling for Lux Bond & Green, which had used Mr. Kolenda for years to insure the prizes it offers on two of the par-3 holes in the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. The company said Mr. Kolenda kept asking for more information but then did not respond to its request for the money.
“It didn’t affect our financial condition, but you never want to lose that kind of money,” said Dave Bonney, Lux Bond & Green’s chief financial officer. “Hopefully we’ll be able to collect someday.”
Mr. Montello, meanwhile, is not blaming the Marine Corps League, but he still hopes to get his money and buy that bracelet for his wife.
“I know all these guys. What are you going to do?” he said. “You let them do the best they can. I’m sure they can come up with a solution.”
Ellie