Fleming v. Gordon (In re Gordon)

491 B.R. 691, 2013 WL 1249000, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 1172
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Maryland
DecidedMarch 26, 2013
DocketBankruptcy No. 10-30522; Adversary Nos. 10-941, 10-942
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 491 B.R. 691 (Fleming v. Gordon (In re Gordon)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fleming v. Gordon (In re Gordon), 491 B.R. 691, 2013 WL 1249000, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 1172 (Md. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

DUNCAN W. KEIR, Bankruptcy Judge.

Before the Court are two adversary proceedings commenced separately by Plaintiff Dr. Bruce Fleming (hereafter referred to as “B. Fleming”) and Plaintiff Dr. Jessie Fleming (hereafter referred to as “J. Fleming”) (together, the “Plaintiffs”),1 by the filing of Complaints to Determine and Objecting to Dischargeability of Debt (the “Complaints”). The Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1384 and Local Rule 402 of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. This is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(l).

I. Procedural Background

The Adversary Proceedings were filed seeking a finding of non-dischargeability pursuant to Sections 523(a)(2), (4), (6) and (19) of the Bankruptcy Code. At the conclusion of discovery, Plaintiffs filed for summary judgment on all counts. The Court held a hearing on the Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment on April 24, 2012.

The Court found that material disputes of fact existed as to the § 523(a)(2) and (4) counts and summary judgment could not be granted in favor of Plaintiffs. Further, Plaintiffs conceded that the facts did not support a finding of willful and malicious injury under § 523(a)(6). The Court thereupon granted summary judgment to the Defendant as to the counts brought under § 523(a)(6). With respect to the § 523(a)(19)2 counts, the Plaintiffs sought a finding of non-dischargeability of an award granted as part of a Consent Order in an administrative proceeding before the Maryland Securities Commission by and between the Securities Commission and Defendant. The Consent Order agreed to by the Defendant without admitting or denying guilt, recited that the Securities Commissioner found that Defendant violated the securities and anti-fraud provisions of the Maryland Securities Act by selling unregistered securities, and inter alia, failing to disclose certain risks to Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs, along with two other clients of Defendant, received a combined [696]*696award of $50,000 from the Securities Commissioner on December 12, 2008. The Court found that this debt to Plaintiffs, if unpaid would be non-dischargeable pursuant to § 528(a)(19). However, at the hearing on summary judgment, Counsel for Defendant informed the Court that Defendant had paid the entire amount awarded to Plaintiffs by the Securities Commissioner. Accordingly, the Court also awarded summary judgment in favor of the Defendant as to the counts pled under § 523(a)(19).

The Court then conducted a two-day trial on October 9 and October 11, 2012 upon the remaining counts brought under §§ 528(a)(2) and (a)(4).3 At the conclusion of evidence, at the Court’s request, all parties submitted proposed findings of facts and conclusions of law.

II. Factual Background

Defendant is a certified financial planner with twenty-three years of experience in the financial industry, and is licensed to sell all types of securities, including bonds. Both Plaintiffs were clients of Defendant. Plaintiff J. Fleming first approached Defendant in 1992 for investment recommendations when changes were being made to J. Fleming’s retirement and pension systems. Plaintiff B. Fleming initially went to Defendant to prepare his taxes, and later, as he began to receive money from his elderly father, approached Defendant for investment advice.

In 2004, Defendant approached both Plaintiffs with an investment opportunity in Pomfret Plantation, LLC (“Pomfret”), a Maryland limited liability company owned by Wills-Hatala, LLC and Gordon & Company LTD (the latter entity was owned wholly by the Defendant’s son, Matthew Gordon). The developers of the Pomfret project envisioned purchasing five tracts of land, measuring 520 acres, in Marion Station, Maryland and building a real-estate development. When presenting the Pom-fret opportunity to Plaintiffs, Defendant did not provide Plaintiffs with materials including a prospectus because according to Defendant, a prospectus was not required.4 B. Fleming testified that he did not request further information because that was not the type of relationship he had with Defendant. B. Fleming testified, “Whatever she told me to sign, I signed.... 5 I didn’t ask because I assumed she was doing the right thing for me.”6

To raise funds for the project, Pomfret planned to sell Notes to be secured by the acreage owned by Pomfret. When an individual invested in the Pom-fret project, he or she was provided a packet that included a “Bill Obligatory”7 (hereinafter “Bill” or “Note”) that stated that the Bill was “secured by real property ... known as Pomfret Plantation.”8

Based upon the Defendant’s assurance that the Pomfret project was a good fit for the Plaintiffs’ respective investment portfolios,9 Plaintiffs invested in the project [697]*697with B. Fleming investing $400,000 and J. Fleming investing $100,000. Defendant informed Plaintiffs that the “worst case scenario” was “the land would be sold and the notes repaid [in full].” 10

On May 22, 2006, after expending $692,000 in owners’ capital and $525,000 of borrowed funds over the course of three years, Pomfret filed for bankruptcy relief in this Court under Chapter ll.11 Plaintiffs then came to learn that notwithstanding what they had been told by Defendant, the purchased Notes were not secured. Following an order granting relief from the automatic stay, all real estate owned by Pomfret was sold at auction by the actual secured creditors and there was no surplus available for other creditors, including Plaintiffs. The Chapter 11 was ultimately dismissed by the Court on May 17, 2007. Neither of the Plaintiffs’ loans to Pomfret were repaid.

III. Analysis

Plaintiffs assert that the difference between the amount received in payment of the award by the Maryland Securities Commissioner and the amounts set forth in the Plaintiffs’ proofs of claims12 filed in the Defendant’s bankruptcy case, are debts that are non-dischargeable under either § 523(a)(4)13 or § 523(a)(2). Such a determination would permit Plaintiffs to seek to recoup their investment losses from the Defendant. The exceptions to discharge enumerated in § 523 are construed narrowly in order to “protect the purpose of [the Bankruptcy Code of] providing debtors a fresh start.” Nunnery v. Rountree (In re Rountree), 478 F.3d 215, 219 (4th Cir.Va.2007) (citing Foley & Lardner v. Blondo (In re Blondo), 180 F.3d 126, 130 (4th Cir.Va.1999)).

A. 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(4)

Section 523(a)(4)14 excepts from discharge any debt for fraud or defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
491 B.R. 691, 2013 WL 1249000, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 1172, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fleming-v-gordon-in-re-gordon-mdb-2013.