Developer seeking $3.8 million from city for a resort has history of unpaid debts, financial disputes

A developer seeking $3.8 million in tax increment financing for a camping resort in northeast Oklahoma City testified in a 2022 court case that he was “completely lacking any assets having surrendered everything to various creditors throughout the years” and that he had no bank account and “no cash other than what was within his wallet.”

David W. Aduddell, who on Wednesday pitched plans for the Block-405 RV&B Resort, is currently facing litigation over allegations of using a shell company to avoid paying creditors. Those still out of money from dealings with Aduddell include Edgar Pyle, who has yet to receive payment on a $748,000 judgment on a 2018 lawsuit.

“I loaned him the money, I thought he would pay me back,” Pyle said Thursday. “But he had no intention of paying me back. After all the people he’s screwed around, I wouldn’t trust him to do anything.”

Despite this troublesome history, Aduddell was well on his way through the process of getting approved for $3.8 million in tax increment financing having gotten a recommendation Wednesday from representatives of Oklahoma County, Metro Tech, the Metropolitan Library System, the Oklahoma City-County Health Department and the city of Oklahoma City.

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Committee unaware of developer's legal past

The members of the committee, including Mayor David Holt, were not told about any of Aduddell’s legal past. Joanna McSpadden, economic development programs manager with the city, said discoveries by The Oklahoman are being reviewed but that the project is still expected to be submitted to a vote on July 18 by the city’s Economic Development Authority.

“We have not been made aware until (The Oklahoman) called that there are these types of allegations,” McSpadden said. “It's something we will keep in mind as our process moves forward.”

McSpadden and Holt said the TIF request is structured so that payments will not be made to the developers until after their $35 million project is done and they have paid the first year of property taxes. A TIF district captures an approved amount of increased ad valorem taxes from a property instead of them being distributed to area taxing entities.

Holt, also unaware of Aduddell’s financial and legal troubles, said he believes a discussion may be needed on learning more about applicants before their requests at the start of the approval process. During Wednesday’s presentation, Aduddell was asked about his past work and answered he owns two RV parks in the city and that he had ambitions to create a national chain of RV&B resorts based on the one planned in the Adventure District.

“Usually, with these proposals, there is not always a lot of additional info shared with various boards,” Holt said. “The good news is we still have multiple steps in the process. There is plenty of time left to analyze this.”

Aduddell, responding by email to The Oklahoman on Thursday, called Pyle “a good man” but added his attorneys “have a bullseye on my back thinking I am this rich guy.”

“There is some basis to this dispute but there are two sides of the equation that make up the whole story,” Aduddell said. “And yes, I have had several very lean years, but I think that should have nothing to do with the exciting project that I am attempting to help bring to Oklahoma City. “

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Past financial troubles

In a February 2022 deposition, Aduddell confirmed he had at least three other unpaid judgments with the Oak Tree Homeowners Association, RCB Bank and the Bank of Hydro. Past financial troubles included default on a development in Edmond.

Pyle said his trouble began when Aduddell asked him for a loan to start a storm shelter company and operate it in a building owned by Pyle.

“He proceeded to tell me all these grand schemes,” Pyle said. “He signed a bunch of shelters at the state fair, gave me a list of them, and I lent him money against the profit he was supposed to get. As far as I know, he never put in a single storm shelter. People came to me after a year wanting their money for their storm shelter back. These were terribly poor people who gave money down for a storm shelter. Most were elderly, Spanish.”

The storm shelter deal, Pyle said, coincided with a particularly deadly tornado season.

“Everyone was scared,” Pyle said. “And storm shelters were a great business.”

Pyle’s attorneys, Kelsey Baldwin and Weston Watts say they are aware of numerous people with claims of fraud against Aduddell, including disputes in New York, Florida and Texas.

“They don’t have the money to go after this con man,” Baldwin said. “Edgar Pyle has spent six figures going after this con man for years. The other victims don’t have $5,000 to even put down a retainer after having spent $3,000 for a storm shelter or whatever other con he was running that year.”

Aduddell denies having disputes with storm shelter buyers.

“I absolutely deny that and in fact have no idea what they are even talking about,” Aduddell said. “I am just one person in the group working to accomplish this new development. I am not the financial partner or money behind the deal. I do not have the financial capacity to deal like that.”

Aduddell, who testified in 2022 he was paying $4,500 a month in rent for a 4,248-square-foot home in Edmond, said he lost “a ton of money” during the 2009 financial collapse and has been trying to settle obligations, including with Pyle, ever since.

“I am proud of all the charitable and civic work that I have done over a long period of time,” Aduddell said. “I do have some talents in regard to development but I never claimed to be a saint. However, my faith in Christ is the very most important thing in my life.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC warned not to trust developer seeking $3.8M for camping resort