Katsiroumbas v. Suits

600 B.R. 472
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. New York
DecidedApril 16, 2019
Docket5:18-CV-972
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 600 B.R. 472 (Katsiroumbas v. Suits) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Katsiroumbas v. Suits, 600 B.R. 472 (N.D.N.Y. 2019).

Opinion

DAVID N. HURD, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Appellant Konstantinos Ioannis Katsiroumbas ("Katsiroumbas" or "debtor"), a chapter 7 bankruptcy debtor, appeals from an August 1, 2018 Memorandum-Decision and Order (the "August MDO") issued by United States Bankruptcy Judge Margaret Cangilos-Ruiz that denied him a discharge of certain debts after appellee Frank H. Suits, Jr. ("Suits" or "creditor"), a judgment creditor, objected to the discharge. In re Katsiroumbas , 589 B.R. 36 (Bankr. N.D.N.Y. 2018). The appeal has been fully briefed and will be decided on the basis of the submissions without oral argument.

II. BACKGROUND 1

Katsiroumbas is a restaurateur and businessman. In 2006, debtor sold off A-1 Restaurant, a pizzeria he owned in Dryden, New York, for $ 1.5 million. The parties to the sale agreed to split up the proceeds using two different contracts.

First, the buyer shelled out $ 850,000 at the time of purchase. The parties recorded this payment using a standard purchase and sale contract written in English and memorialized on standard New York State real estate transfer forms.

Second, the buyer promised to pay off the remaining $ 650,000 balance in 84 monthly installments of $ 9,600 at 6 percent interest. The parties memorialized this part of the deal in a private agreement written in Greek, executed in Greece, and secured by a mortgage on property located in Greece (the "Note").

After selling off the pizzeria, Katsiroumbas tried his hand at investing in other business ventures. First, debtor helped out two other entrepreneurs by pouring a substantial sum of money-by his own estimation, about $ 500,000-into Brix Pubaria, a bar and restaurant in Cortland, New York. However, the relationship between debtor and his co-investors soured and they tried to push him out of the shared enterprise. According to debtor, litigation over ownership of that restaurant remains pending.

In the spring of 2014, still reeling from being booted out of Brix Pubaria, Katsiroumbas borrowed about $ 289,000 from Suits to open La Piazza, a restaurant in *476Syracuse, New York. However, the business bled money right from the start and debtor was forced to close the restaurant in November of that year.

On May 18, 2015, apparently as a result of his investment in the failed La Piazza venture, Suits recovered money judgments in state court against Katsiroumbas for $ 341,063.52 and $ 66,711.71. Debtor partially satisfied the latter judgment. Thereafter, debtor made ends meet by working at other restaurants, selling off another property he owned, and accepting a buyout of a mortgage he held on another. Debtor also helped his uncle, Peter Constantine, open and operate Bravo, a pizzeria located in Freeville, New York.

On December 28, 2016, seeking a fresh start and a way to rid himself of liability for the substantial money judgment he still owed to Suits, Katsiroumbas filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. As one might expect, creditor sought to block debtor's gambit. Creditor filed an adversary complaint in the bankruptcy case and sought an order denying debtor a discharge of his debts. In that filing, creditor argued debtor had falsified certain records associated with his financial condition, made false statements in connection with his bankruptcy case, or otherwise failed to explain the disposition of certain estate assets.

On March 20, 2018, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Margaret Cangilos-Ruiz held a one-day bench trial on Suits's objection to Katsiroumbas's discharge. Judge Cangilos-Ruiz heard testimony from seven witnesses and received extensive documentary evidence into the record, including sworn depositions taken in prior proceedings. In re Katsiroumbas , 589 B.R. at 40 n.2 (detailing evidentiary record and submissions considered).

At trial, the parties principally disputed whether Katsiroumbas: (1) possessed an undisclosed ownership interest in Bravo at the time he filed for bankruptcy2 ; (2) received money for work performed at Bravo that he did not disclose in his bankruptcy filing; and (3) properly disclosed any pending or outstanding payments that remained due on the Note.

For his part, Katsiroumbas acknowledged that he received "substantial payments" on the Note between 2006 and 2013, but insisted that further installment payments ceased in 2013, well before he filed for bankruptcy. In July of that year, debtor and the counter-party reached a "satisfaction agreement" on a final, lump sum payment that would fully discharge the Note.

As for his alleged ownership interest in Bravo, Katsiroumbas admitted that he helped his uncle start the business and conceded that he performs "many roles" on a day-to-day basis, but insisted that he received just three $ 500 paychecks (which he properly disclosed on his filing) when the restaurant first opened. Instead of money, debtor claimed that he now receives free meals at the restaurant.

Suits introduced evidence tending to show that Katsiroumbas's story was false or misleading. Among other things, creditor showed that debtor had under-reported payments from the Note to the Internal Revenue Service. Creditor argued that this and other related evidence suggested debtor had hidden away some amount of cash from the deal. Creditor also introduced evidence that Mr. Constantine, debtor's uncle, might well have been only a figurehead for Bravo, with debtor himself in full *477control of the restaurant behind the scenes.

On this point, Suits demonstrated that Katsiroumbas himself possessed authorization to sign checks on Bravo's bank account and handled the permitting process with the county health department. Further evidence showed that a large portion of Bravo's transactions are in cash, that the restaurant's process for handling and tracking these cash payments is not rigorous, and that debtor had regular access to the stream of cash moving between the restaurant's registers and the restaurant's bank account.

On August 1, 2018, after post-trial briefing, Judge Cangilos-Ruiz issued an order finding Katsiroumbas ineligible for discharge. The August MDO rejected Suits's claim that debtor had concealed an ownership interest in Bravo or stashed away additional cash compensation flowing from his work at the restaurant. The August MDO also rejected creditor's claim that debtor lied about receiving additional compensation from the Note.

However, the August MDO found that Katsiroumbas produced contradictory and incomplete evidence of his financial condition. The August MDO also found that debtor's declarations of ignorance regarding his own finances were untruthful and that debtor had "deliberately obfuscated his affairs." Accordingly, Judge Cangilos-Ruiz denied debtor a discharge. This appeal followed.

III. DISCUSSION 3

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600 B.R. 472, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/katsiroumbas-v-suits-nynd-2019.