In re Agrawal

562 B.R. 510, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 4351
United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Oklahoma·Decided December 13, 2016·No. Case No. 16-11253-JDL·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER FOR RELIEF IN INVOLUNTARY PROCEEDING

Janice D. Loyd, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge

Introduction-Statement of the Case

On April 4, 2016 (the “Petition Date”), CO & G Production Group, LLC (“CO & G”), Spoon Resources, LLC (“Spoon”), Acadiana Maintenance Services (“Acadia-na”) and Great American Insurance Company(“Great American”) (collectively, the “Petitioning Creditors”) filed an involuntary proceeding under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. § 101, et seq.1 (the “Involuntary Petition”) [Doc.l], against Krishna Kumar Agrawal (“Agra-wal”). On April 6, 2016, the Petitioning Creditors filed their Amended Involuntary Petition. [Doc. 3]. On May 2,2015, Agrawal filed his Motion to Dismiss asserting that the Petitioning Creditors’ claims were contingent or subject of a bona fide dispute as to liability and amount, and the pending litigation with CO & G in Tulsa County demonstrated that the Involuntary Petition had been filed in bad faith. [Doc.15]. The Petitioning Creditors responded by their Objection to the Motion to Dismiss primarily asserting that their Involuntary Petition had stated a facially sufficient claim for relief and that each of the four Petitioning Creditors was a holder of a valid final state court judgment. [Doc. 22].

On June 1, 2016, the Court entered its Order denying Agrawal’s Motion to Dismiss on the basis that on its face the Involuntary Petition had stated a claim for relief under the standards of Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as made applicable by Fed R. Bankr. P. 7012 [Doc. 25], and that any claim that the Petitioning Creditors had acted in “bad faith” was not ripe for adjudication unless the Court had previously entered an order of dismissal of the Involuntary Petition. Agrawal thereafter filed his Answer to the Amended Involuntary Petition essentially asserting that a bona fide dispute existed as to liability and amount with each of the Petitioning Creditors claims as required by § 303(a)(1).

A Scheduling Conference was conducted by the Court on July 14, 2016. Given the fact that the Petitioning Creditors had stated in prior pleadings that they were the holders of state court judgments, the Court directed the parties to submit on or before October 14, 2016, a summary of the state court proceedings giving rise to any judgments entered in favor of the Petitioning Creditors as well as briefs containing legal authority supporting their respective contentions as to whether a bona fide dispute existed pursuant to § 303(b)(1). These instructions to the parties were memorialized in the Court’s Order of July 15, 2016, setting an evidentiary hearing on the Petitioning Creditors’ Involuntary Chapter 7 Petition on November 2, 2016. [Doc. 40].

[513] Pursuant to the Court’s Order made at the time of the Scheduling Conference, on October 14, 2016, Agrawal filed Debtor’s Overview of What Proof Will Show and Supporting Authority (the “Overview”) [Doc 43], arguing in conclusory language that the Petitioning Creditors’ claims were contingent as to liability or the subject of a bona fide dispute as to liability or amount, and that the Petitioning Creditors “cling to certain judgments obtained by fraud, and they unlawfully seek for this Court’s protection from state courts’ examination to [sic] decisions as to whether or not their conduct was fraudulent.” [Doc. 43, p.2]. In his .Overview, Agrawal did not contest the fact that each of the Petitioning Creditors was the holder of a state court judgment. Rather, he argued that for one reason or another the judgments were not valid and he had no obligation to pay the same. On the other hand, the Petitioning Creditors in. their Summary of State Court Proceedings Giving Rise to the Claims of Petitioning Creditors (the “Summary”) [Doc. 44], submitted documentation to the court, supplemented by the Court’s judicial notice of certain state court proceedings, that all four of the Petitioning Creditors were the holders of state court judgments.

In its Memorandum Opinion and Order Resolving Certain Legal Standing Issues in Involuntary Case entered on November 1, 2016 (the “Order”) [Doc. 51], this Court found Petitioning Creditors CO & G, Great American and Acadiana were the holders of final unappealed, or appealed but not stayed, judgments against Agrawal: (1) a judgment in favor of CO & G in the District Court of Tulsa County for approximately $11 million; (2) a judgment in favor of Great American in the District Court of Oklahoma County for $31,344.92 plus costs and, (3) a judgment in favor of or Acadiana in the District Court of Beaver County in the amount of $3,132.82. As to Spoon, the Court found that it was the holder of a judgment in the District Court of Okmul-gee County in the amount of $20,000; however, the District Court had pending issues as to whether additional damages were appropriate, making the $20,000 judgment in Spoon’s favor interlocutory and thus not a “final” judgment for purposes of § 303(b)(1).

In its Order the Court found that applying the objective standards of determining whether a “bona fide dispute” existed as expressed by the Tenth Circuit in Bartmann v. Maverick Tube Corp., 853 F.2d 1540, 153-44 (10th Cir. 1988), the judgments held by the Petitioning Creditors were not subject to a bona fide dispute notwithstanding Agrawal’s subjective displeasure with them.2 The Court also followed the clear majority view—the “Drex-ler” rule—that an unstayed, non-default state court judgment on appeal does not constitute a “bona fide dispute” for purposes of § 303(b)(1). For the reasons stated in the Order, the Court concluded that there existed the three requisite Petitioning Creditors holding claims not subject to a bona fide dispute and meeting the aggregate monetary standard of $15,425.00 so as to have standing and thus eligible to file this involuntary bankruptcy. This Court incorporates by reference its November 1, 2016, Order into this Memorandum Opinion and Order for Relief in Involuntary Proceeding as if fully set forth herein, and the findings of fact and conclusions of law contained in said Order shall be part of the [514] Findings of Fact and Conclusions of law contained herein.

II.Jurisdiction

The Court has jurisdiction over this bankruptcy case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1834(b). Reference to the Court of this contested matter is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(a). The determination of whether an order for relief should be entered in an involuntary bankruptcy case is a core proceeding as contemplated by 28 U.S.C. § 157(b) (2)(A).

III.Burden of Proof

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In re Agrawal, 562 B.R. 510, 2016 Bankr. LEXIS 4351 (Okla. 2016).

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