Former Thornburg execs to launch jumbo mortgage lender

The former co-founder and CEO of Thornburg Mortgage is developing a new mortgage company specializing in jumbo lending. Aventur Partners, whose president and CEO is Larry Goldstone, recently announced the jumbo venture Aventur Mortgage Capital, as well as three other business developments that range from alternative investment management to medical charting. Aventur Capital Mortgage is in the process of raising initial capital, according to the Aventur Partners website. No one at the parent company was immediately available to comment on when the jumbo lender would officially launch. The former vice president of Thornburg, David Akre, is the serving chief operating officer at Aventur. Goldstone’s previous mortgage business, Thornburg Mortgage, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2009 in Maryland. The once leading jumbo lender held $36.5 billion in assets. In October of that year, the company’s name was changed to TMST Inc. and a trustee was appointed to the case. At the end of April, trustee Joel Sher sued several major banks including Goldman Sachs (GS) and Barclays for an estimated $2.2 billion, alleging they reportedly ran a scheme that led to Thornburg’s bankruptcy. Credit Suisse (CSGN), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), UBS (UBS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Countrywide Home Loans and Citigroup (C) are also being sued in four separate lawsuits. Some of the banks reportedly conducted a “collusive scheme” using a series of unjustified margin calls to extend their control over Thornburg. Sher is suing Barclays, alleging it improperly seized mortgage bonds from Thornburg by undervaluing the securities in a series of margin calls. Sher claims Goldman allegedly seized hundreds of millions of dollars in investment-grade mortgage bonds, according to reports. Sher was appointed to run Thornburg after the company’s two senior officers and one of its attorneys allegedly stole funds to form a new company, called SAF Financial Inc., according to court documents. The only substantive change with Thornburg was the name, court records alleged. In March 2010, Sher sued Goldstone, former chief financial officer Clarence Simmons, former vice president Deborah Burns and former vice president Amy Pel. The case was terminated seven months after it was filed. Goldstone’s Aventur Partners, based in Santa Fe, N.M., is now developing three other companies alongside Aventur Mortgage Capital. Blue Aspen Capital is an alternative investment management firm, which is raising start up capital at this time. Recently launched Technology Solutions NM helps small and medium-sized companies design, install and maintain large IT systems. The last business is a medical charting business called UC Charting Solutions and specializes in charting for urgent care centers. UC Charting was also recently opened and is in business. All firms are based out of Santa Fe. Write to Christine Ricciardi. Follow her on Twitter @HWnewbieCR.