The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating companies affiliated with Monty Bennett, whose Ashford Hospitality Trust (AHT) affiliates were among the biggest recipients of federal government bailout money, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
In its quarterly earnings report AHT said that the SEC sent an “administrative subpoena” requesting documents and information in June. Ashford Inc. and Braemar Hotels & Resorts also received subpoenas,
The SEC investigation is over related-party deals, including an agreement to renegotiate billions of dollars in mortgage debt where Ashford Hospitality Trust said it could no longer afford to make interest payments, according to the filings.
Bennett and the SEC didn’t immediately respond to the Journal’s requests for comment.
Ashford companies received around US$68 million in federal loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, among the biggest recipients of any public company, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. Bennett said the companies would return the money amid criticism that public companies received funds meant for small businesses.