Feltman v. Kossoff & Kossoff LLP (In re TS Emp't, Inc.)

603 B.R. 700
United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. New York·Decided July 10, 2019·No. Case No. 15-10243 (MG); Adv. Case No. 18-01649 (MG)·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

MARTIN GLENN, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE

Pending before the Court is the motion ("Motion," ECF Doc. # 21) to dismiss the *703second amended complaint ("Second Amended Complaint," ECF Doc. # 16) filed by defendants Kossoff & Kossoff LLP and its principal Irwin Kossoff (collectively, "Defendants"). The Chapter 11 Trustee of TS Employment, Inc. ("TSE" or "Debtor"), plaintiff, James S. Feltman ("Trustee"), filed an opposition to the Motion. ("Trustee Opposition," ECF Doc. # 23.) Defendants filed a reply. (ECF Doc. # 25.) The issue here is whether the Second Amended Complaint sufficiently alleges that the Defendants meet the non-statutory insider exception to the Wagoner rule.

"The so-called Wagoner rule stands for the well-settled proposition that a bankrupt corporation, and by extension, an entity that stands in the corporation's shoes, lacks standing to assert claims against third parties for defrauding the corporation where the third parties assisted corporate managers in committing the alleged fraud." In re Platinum-Beechwood Litig. , No. 18-CV-10936 (JSR), 2019 WL 2569653, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. June 21, 2019) (quoting Cobalt Multifamily Inv'rs I, LLC v. Shapiro , 857 F. Supp. 2d 419, 425 (S.D.N.Y. 2012) ). There are two exceptions to the Wagoner rule: First, under the "insider exception," courts have held that "in pari delicto / Wagoner does not apply to the actions of fiduciaries who are insiders in the sense that they either are on the board or in management, or in some other way control the corporation." In re Refco Inc. Sec. Litig. , No. 07-MD-1902 (JSR), 2010 WL 6549830, at *16 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 6, 2010), report and recommendation adopted in part, rejected in part on other grounds sub nom. In re Refco Sec. Litig. , 779 F. Supp. 2d 372 (S.D.N.Y. 2011), aff'd sub nom. Krys v. Butt , 486 F. App'x 153 (2d Cir. 2012) ; see Glob. Crossing Estate Representative v. Winnick , No. 04 Civ. 2558 (GEL), 2006 WL 2212776, at *15 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 3, 2006) ("Courts have held that the Wagoner ... rules do not apply to claims against corporate insiders for breach of their fiduciary duties.").1

The usual application of the insider exception deals with directors, officers and managers of a corporation. The Defendants here are not directors, officers or managers. This case involves the recognized extension of the insider exception to non-statutory insiders "who in some other way control the corporation." In re Refco , 2010 WL 6549830, at *16. For the reasons explained below, the Court concludes that the Second Amended Complaint sufficiently alleges that the Defendants were non-statutory insiders, and, therefore, the Motion is DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

The Trustee commenced the adversary proceeding against the Defendants here, who were TSE's former accountants. Defendants allegedly caused TSE and its creditors to lose more than $100 million before TSE filed for bankruptcy protection in February 2015. (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 1.)

On October 5, 2018, the Trustee filed an initial complaint ("Initial Complaint," ECF Doc. # 1) against the Defendants. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the Trustee's claims are barred by the Wagoner rule. ("First Motion to Dismiss,"

*704ECF Doc. # 8.) The Court granted the First Motion to Dismiss, concluding that the complaint did not sufficiently support an inference that Defendants fell within the non-statutory insider exception to the Wagoner rule. Kossoff , 597 B.R. at 552 [hereinafter Prior Opinion ]. The Court also rejected the Trustee's argument that the adverse interest exception applied. The dismissal of the Initial Complaint was without prejudice and the Trustee was allowed to amend the Initial Complaint to allege additional facts demonstrating that Defendants "acted effectively as TSE's CFO, Treasurer or other senior finance and accounting personnel, who made important accounting decisions that facilitated the massive fraud." Id.

On March 28, 2019, the Trustee filed the Second Amended Complaint, and on May 14, 2019, the Defendants again moved to dismiss.

B. Statement of Facts

Until its bankruptcy, TSE served as the professional employer organization ("PEO") for Corporate Resource Services, Inc. ("CRS") and its subsidiaries ("CRS Subsidiaries" and, together with CRS, "CRS Debtors"). The CRS Debtors were publicly traded companies. As the PEO, TSE was the employer of record for hundreds of thousands of temporary workers supplied under the CRS Debtors' contracts with their customers. (Second Amended Complaint ¶ 2.)

CRS experienced dramatic growth from 2010 to 2015 by offering its customers competitive pricing and financing options. CRS's ability to rapidly expand its business largely depended on purported financial accommodations made by TSE, including the forgiveness or deferral of more than $70 million owed to TSE under its PEO agreement with CRS. (Id. ¶ 3.)

TSE never had the capital or liquidity needed to make financial accommodations to CRS. TSE "financed" its accommodations to CRS by failing to pay federal employment taxes for TSE employees that were supplied to CRS customers. Moreover, most of TSE's funds were commingled with those of its affiliate, Tri-State Employment Service, Inc. ("Tri-State"), where tens of millions of dollars were used for purposes unrelated to TSE. As a result, TSE ultimately failed to pay more than $100 million (exclusive of interest and penalties) in federal employment tax obligations, as well as other non-tax obligations. (Id. ¶¶ 4-5.) Defendants' actions hid this reality from the outside world, thus permitting TSE to continue to amass unpaid liabilities while its corporate life was wrongfully prolonged. (Id. ¶ 7.)

From 2011 forward, TSE was insolvent and engaged in an unsustainable and under-capitalized business. TSE had no chief financial officer or treasurer to carry out its core financial and accounting operations. Instead, these functions were performed by Defendants, who allegedly exercised direct, complete, and virtually exclusive control over the financial reporting systems and internal accounting functions of TSE. (Id. ¶ 6.)

C. Second Amended Complaint

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Feltman v. Kossoff & Kossoff LLP (In re TS Emp't, Inc.), 603 B.R. 700 (N.Y. 2019).

603 B.R. 700 (Feltman v. Kossoff & Kossoff LLP (In re TS Emp't, Inc.)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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