By Sukhmani Kaur Batra and Rachel Ocampo, Courier Staff Writers
Thomas Michael Henderson promised greatness to Oakland, but it was all a fraud.
CEO of San Francisco Regional Center (SFRC), Henderson is active in politics, featured in multiple newspapers, and even named an Oakland hero. He promised thousands of jobs, new restaurants, and a complete turn around to the city.
He looked to be genuinely committed to bettering Oakland, working with politicians, signing large donation checks, creating big business ventures with the city’s entrepreneurs and activists.
His image took a turn for the worse when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued him for fraud. Many of his former business partners filed lawsuits which stated that he failed to fulfill their agreements.
He also hasn’t paid back a loan of $3.7 million to a West Oakland nonprofit organization.
He funded his businesses using EB-5, a federal program dedicated to producing jobs in areas where there were high percentages of unemployment. The program, created under the Immigrant Act of 1990, provides green cards to foreign investors who invest at least $1,000,000 in a business that will finance the employment of at least 10 American workers. However, if the investment is made to a business in a target employment area (TEA), an area with high unemployment or a rural area, the threshold is lowered to $500,000. The program is intended to encourage foreign investments and economic growth. In recent years, EB-5’s popularity has soared, reaching a peak of approximately 4.4 billion USD in investments in 2015.
To attract foreign investors, Henderson marketed his detailed business proposals of Oakland. With the city being considered a TEA, Henderson’s foreign business partners were required $500,000 each to be granted permanent residency. By 2016, he raised a total of $115 million in investments from 215 investors, who were primarily from China.
According to interviews with his former business partners and others who worked with him during his Oakland scam, Henderson moved the EB-5 money between several companies in an elaborate web: starting with a nursing facility, then multiple CallSocket call centers, along with the proposal of the development of a grocery store, and other ventures.
It’s also shown in records that Henderson spent $42 million on historic landmarks in Oakland such as the Dufwin Theatre, former I Magnin building, and the Tribune Tower. He only created a few jobs; the restaurants, grocery stores, and repairs for the Tribune Tower he promised did not go through as planned.
According to his business partners, his plan was to fulfill some of his promises and then, retract the money into some of the funds he had accumulated for expensive purchases.
The money that was raised to create jobs was used for his personal benefit instead.