1674-56 Morris Lansburgh TUE AUG 07 1990 ED: FINAL
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: 1D LENGTH: 24 . 69" MEDIUM
ILLUST:
SOURCE: LINDA ROBERTSON Herald Sports Writer
DATELINE:
MEMO:
POLITICAL,
LEGAL WOES
TRAIL DUO
The unlikely duo behind a Miami-based investment group' s bid for the
Montreal Expos has a history of political and legal entanglements that would
probably be scrutinized by the commissioner of baseball -- if they become
viable contenders for the franchise.
Lou Poller, 83, a retired banker from Bay Harbor Islands, and George
Kunde, head of an engineering firm and former Metro- Dade transportation
director, surprised the other two South Florida groups trying to acquire a
major-league team with a $135 million offer sent by fax to the Expos.
Poller and Kunde were hesitant to talk about the other members of their
group, their net worths or their pasts. Real estate records do not list Poller
or Kunde as owners of land near their proposed West Dade stadium. Poller would
not describe the source of a proposed $35 million down payment.
"We are like a caterpillar waiting to become a butterfly, " Poller said.
"When it becomes a transaction, the money should be questioned: If you stole
it, get out. "
Poller was once indicted -- and later cleared -- in a probe of former
Teamsters ' Union President Jimmy Hoffa. He also was an unindicted co-
conspirator in a plot to skim more than $14 million from a Las
Vegas casino. A U.S. Department of Justice official called the case "one
of the most significant organized crime indictments" of its time. Organized
crime financial wizard Meyer Lansky and Miami Beach hotel owners Morris
Lansburgh and Sam Cohen were indicted in the 1971 case, in which Poller was
accused of helping Cohen and Lansburgh deposit skimmed profits in a Swiss bank
account at Miami National Bank. Poller exchanged testimony for immunity; Cohen
pleaded guilty.
"I have never been prosecuted or convicted, " Poller said. "It was a
vendetta between other people, and I walked between two boys throwing
snowballs. I just happened to live in that era. "
Poller acquired control of Miami National Bank at 8101 Biscayne Blvd. in
1962 when he borrowed $4 million from the Teamsters ' pension fund. Cohen later
became chairman of the board of the bank, which has been plagued by
indictments of top officials and repeated changes in control. He no longer
controls the bank.
Poller, former owner of radio and TV stations in Scranton, Pa. ,
Milwaukee and Arlington, Va. , said his biggest assets are his 14 grandchildren
and 10 great-grandchildren.
Kunde has known Poller for more than 30 years. The two formed the Kunde-
Poller Corp. in 1983 .
Kunde had a controversial tenure as the county ' s traffic and
transportation director. In 1959, his $95 million proposal to build 138
overpasses was dubbed "Kunde ' s Rollercoaster System. " In 1961, he lost his job
for painting his boat and allowing his assistants to paint and repair cars in
county shops.
Kunde went into the engineering consulting business and returned to the
spotlight in 1969 , when he told a state Senate subcommittee he had given
$18 , 000 to Gov. Claude Kirk' s secret Governor' s Club -- a group of campaign
contributors -- and that all of his $500, 000 in road contracts came after his
first contribution.
Kunde was also a principal in a controversial firm that shared the
city' s $500 million cable TV franchise. In 1979, he and caterer Jerry
Pendergast obtained a lucrative and controversial Miami Marine Stadium
concession. In 1978 , Kunde and Dolphin owner Joe Robbie clashed when a Kunde
study recommended renovating the Orange Bowl rather than building a new
football stadium.
"I 'm fairly well-known locally and I don't have to worry about a
background check, " Kunde said. "There' s the possibility of a good thing
happening for Miami and the best thing I could do now is shut up. "
Poller said a third member of the investment group is Robert E. Lee,
former Federal Communications Commission chairman.
"Baseball here is overdue, " Poller said. "If you're not living you 're an
old man at 65 . "
ADDED TERMS : baseball mi
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