In a case that sheds new light on a lawsuit lodged against the city, Midwest Hotels and Motels of Shawano, LLC, has been accused of operating the Best Western Village Haus without the necessary permits during the first several weeks that it allegedly owned the hotel.
A criminal complaint filed in Shawano County Circuit Court on Tuesday names Kalmar G. Gronvall, as an agent for Midwest Hotels, as the defendant. It includes three counts against Gronvall as party to the crime of selling alcohol, operating a motel, and operating a restaurant without a permits.
Gronvall has been summoned to appear in Shawano County Circuit Court to answer the charges on Nov. 14 at 1:30 p.m. The maximum possible penalty on the three counts in the complaint would be nine months imprisonment and $12,000 in fines.
Midwest Hotels — a subsidiary of the Samanta Roy Institute of Science and Technology — has maintained it did not take ownership of the property until late May.
However, suspicions that the business had already been sold and was operated by new owners in April led to an investigation by the state Department of Revenue.
According to a case report filed by special agent Rick Uhlig and included in the criminal complaint, Uhlig received information on May 26 from the Shawano Police Department and the Shawano County District Attorney’s office regarding possible retail alcohol violations at the Best Western, 201 N. Airport Drive.
“Information received indicated that it was suspected that the business had been sold and was being operated by new ownership starting as early as April 15, 2005, but application for retail alcohol licenses had not been made until May 3, 2005 and the licenses were not granted until May 25, 2005,” Uhlig wrote in his report.
Uhlig noted in the report that granting of the licenses by the city was delayed because of outstanding city taxes due and incomplete application forms.
SIST and Midwest Hotels filed a lawsuit July 29 against the city of Shawano regarding the handling of those licenses. The suit maintains that the city violated equal protection laws and interfered with property rights and business operations at the Best Western.