| The former executive who successfully sued Advanta Mortgage for age discrimination is the new president of beleaguered American Business Financial Services Inc.
Milton Riseman was named American Business’s president and chief operating officer, the company announced Tuesday. Riseman was promoted from chairman of the Philadelphia-based lender’s consumer mortgage group, a position he held since June 1999 in which his responsibility included the sales, marketing and day-to-day operation of Upland Mortgage and supervisory of the Bank Alliance Services Program, the announcement said. “Milt has distinguished himself not only during his nearly six years at [American Business], but throughout his entire career in the industry,” commented company chief executive Anthony Santilli in the announcement. His background includes executive roles at Advanta Mortgage and Citicorp Acceptance Corp., the company said. But the Advanta stint ended in court. In 1998, Riseman filed an age-discrimination lawsuit against Advanta Corp. in the U.S. District Court for Eastern District in Pennsylvania, according to court documents. The executive was awarded nearly $5 million in late 2000 for wages and back pay under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which was ruled final in May 2003. American Business filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court late January after it was unable to keep funding loans. The move was a last resort to address its liquidity issues, including gaining approval to obtain financing necessary to support its origination business through a commitment of $500 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Greenwich Capital Financial Products Inc. Santilli remained optimistic, however, saying that he believed “Riseman’s day-to-day management of the company’s lending and other operations will help guide us through our restructuring.” |
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