Voting Station

John Spano

Please vote to return to collections.

Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (May 31, 1964- )
    Born in New York City, New York
    Former owner of the Bison Group and the Commercial Financial Group
    Owner of the New York Islanders (October 1996-January 1997)
    Arrested and charged of bank fraud, wire fraud, and forgery in three different states in regards to his purchase of the New York Islanders (1997)

Why he might be annoying:

    He claimed to be extremely wealthy, when in reality he actually wasn't.
    He initially attempted to purchase the Dallas Stars, but the team's ownership felt he didn't have the financial resources to make the bid.
    He conned financial institutions in Massachusetts, New York and Texas into giving him money to purchase the Islanders.
    He used phony documents to convince the National Hockey League he had the financial resources to purchase the team.
    He repeatedly found excuses to stall his payments to team owner Charles Pickett.
    He came off as being cocky and arrogant by his colleagues.
    He was reincarcerated a year and a half after his initial arrest for fraud (surprise, surprise).
    He was arrested and charged with fraud and forgery, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison (June 17, 2015).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He earned a degree in business administration from Duquesne University.
    He befriended Islanders great Denis Potvin, which served as his way in to purchasing the Islanders.
    He was able to convince the NHL's Board of Governors he was wealthy enough to buy the team, since they didn't do their due diligence on his financial background.
    He was successfully able to negotiate and extend the Islanders cable deal, which proved to be key in providing a revenue stream for the team.
    His fraudulent entrance in the NHL's ownership ranks made the league change its vetting procedures in prospective ownership candidates.
    His purchase and demise were the subject of 2013 ESPN 30 in 30 special, which was directed by Kevin Connolly.

Credit: Ricky


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 19 Votes: 84.21% Annoying