Daniel H. Overmyer | |
|---|---|
 Daniel Overmyer, c. 1966 | |
| Born | Daniel Harrison Overmyer December 6, 1924 Toledo, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | July 24, 2012 (aged 87) |
| Alma mater | Denison University |
| Years active | 1947–1986 |
| Known for |
|
| Criminal charges | Bankruptcy fraud, conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud, mail fraud[1] |
| Criminal penalty | 3 years in federal prison (6 months in custody), 3 years probation, $5,000 fine[2] |
| Spouse |
Shirley C. Overmyer
(m. 1943; died 1994) |
| Children | 5 |
| Parents |
|
Daniel Harrison Overmyer (December 6, 1924 – July 24, 2012) was an American businessman, warehouse mogul, and television broadcaster. During the height of his career, Overmyer was referred to as "the king of warehousing".[3]
A second-generation warehouse operator, Overmyer aggressively expanded his holdings in the 1950s and 1960s with a warehouse design structure unlike prior models, which emphasized ease of transportation of goods and more efficient storage. At its height, the D. H. Overmyer Warehouse Company boasted over 350 warehouses and 32 million square feet of space in North America and Europe. Overmyer also extended his influence to television station ownership: between 1964 and 1965, a total of seven construction permits for ultra high frequency (UHF) stations were either granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or acquired in related transactions. Of these seven permits, only one, WDHO-TV in Toledo, Ohio, was built and signed on by Overmyer directly.
Financial constraints caused by an overexpansion in the warehouse business led Overmyer to sell majority control of the other unbuilt stations to American Viscose Corporation (AVC) in exchange for a loan. The FCC's deference on examining Overmyer's financial situation and the composition of the sale resulted in a congressional investigation and multiple FCC hearings that delayed the renewal of WDHO's broadcast license for a decade. Another planned venture, a fourth television network originally dubbed the Overmyer Network, was sold by Overmyer to a group of investors weeks before launching in May 1967. Renamed the United Network, the network ceased operations after one month due to significant financial losses, cancelling their lone offering, The Las Vegas Show.
Overmyer's continued financial overextensions, coupled with his practice of borrowing from one corporate subsidiary to pay for another subsidiary, resulted in a prolonged series of Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings that lasted for nearly 12 years. Initially filed with the Southern District of New York (SDNY), allegations published in the New York Daily News of money laundering and financial kickbacks by an accounting firm headed by a brother of the presiding judge led to the judge's removal in 1978. The bankruptcies enveloped all of Overmyer's 41 subsidiaries: when the subsidiary holding WDHO's license was led out of bankruptcy by SDNY in 1981, that subsidiary filed for bankruptcy again in Cleveland, Ohio. Allegations of Overmyer and an associate defrauding the bank that held stock in WDHO led the bank to seize control of the station, selling it to a third party. All of Overmyer's other assets were auctioned off by SDNY throughout 1985. Overmyer was eventually convicted of bankruptcy fraud in 1989 in federal court following investigations by both the FBI and IRS.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
876-F.2d-937was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
CPD890722awas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Zaborney, Mark (July 28, 2012). "Daniel H. Overmyer, 1924-2012: Warehouse mogul started TV station". Toledo Blade. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2015.