Lim v. Storozhenko (In re Storozhenko)

487 B.R. 457, 2012 WL 2704924, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 3060
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJuly 6, 2012
DocketBankruptcy No. 11-57443; Adversary No. 11-6552
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 487 B.R. 457 (Lim v. Storozhenko (In re Storozhenko)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lim v. Storozhenko (In re Storozhenko), 487 B.R. 457, 2012 WL 2704924, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 3060 (Mich. 2012).

Opinion

TRIAL OPINION

THOMAS J. TUCKER, Bankruptcy Judge.

I.Introduction

The Defendant in this adversary proceeding, Liudmila Storozhenko, filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. In this adversary proceeding, the Plaintiff Chapter 7 Trustee, K. Jin Lim, seeks a judgment denying Defendant Debtor’s discharge, based on 11 U.S.C. §§ 727(a)(2) (Count I of Plaintiffs Complaint); 727(a)(3)(Count II); and 727(a)(4)(A)(Count III).1 The Court held a bench trial on April 3, 2012, then took the case under advisement.

The Court has considered all of the evidence and arguments presented by the parties at trial. This opinion states the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law.

For the reasons stated below, the Court finds for Plaintiff Trustee on Counts II and III, and will enter a judgment denying Debtor’s discharge, based on 11 U.S.C. §§ 727(a)(3) and 727(a)(4)(A).

II. Jurisdiction

This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this adversary proceeding under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334(b), 157(a) and 157(b)(1), and Local Rule 83.50(a)(E.D.Mich.). This is a core proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 157(b) (2) (J).

III. Background and facts

A. The 2006 and 2009 divorce cases, and the civil contempt order against Debtor

Most of the relevant facts in this case are undisputed.2 The Debtor (sometimes referred to as “Liudmila” in this opinion) married Vladimir Nozhnik (“Vladimir”) on July 16, 2008. Vladimir had recently divorced Esfir Nozhnik (“Esfir”), in April 2008. That divorce case had been filed in April 2006, in the Oakland County, Michigan Circuit Court (the “2006 Divorce Case”). Under the April 2, 2008 divorce judgment in that case, Vladimir was indebted to Esfir in the amount of approximately $120,000.00.3 To collect that debt, the Oakland County Circuit Court appointed attorney David Findling as a receiver in the 2006 Divorce Case. Findling’s duty as receiver was “to marshal, seize and pre[461]*461serve assets of [Vladimir] to satisfy his obligations to Esfir under the April 2, 2008 [divorce judgment].”4

Liudmila’s marriage to Vladimir did not last long. They separated on August 6, 2009, after slightly more than a year of marriage. Liudmila filed a complaint for divorce against Vladimir on August 18, 2009, in the case captioned Liudmila Sto-rozhenko v. Vladimir Nozhnik, Oakland County Circuit Court case number 2009-762704 DO (the “2009 Divorce Case”).5 On August 19, 2009, at Liudmila’s request, the Circuit Court in the 2009 Divorce Case entered a “mutual property injunction,” which prohibited both Liudmila and Vladimir from “selling, assigning, encumbering, or otherwise disposing of’ any assets, “except as is needed in the ordinary course of living.”6

On October 30, 2009, during a pretrial hearing in the 2009 Divorce Case, Vladimir testified that he had transferred $105,000 into bank accounts in Liudmila’s name, in order to conceal the money from Esfir and the Receiver. Liudmila, in turn, testified in that same hearing that she knew that Vladimir was hiding that money from someone, and that she had spent about $50,000 of that money.7

Shortly after these revelations, on November 2, 2009, the Oakland County Circuit Court appointed David Findling as a receiver in the 2009 Divorce Case, for the same purposes as in the 2006 Divorce Case — namely, to marshal, seize and preserve assets of Vladimir in order to satisfy Vladimir’s obligations to Esfir arising from the April 2, 2008 divorce judgment that had been entered in the 2006 Divorce Case.8

In November 2009, in the 2009 Divorce Case, Findling filed a motion to hold Liud-mila in contempt, for allegedly violating the mutual property injunction in that case. The Circuit Court ultimately held an evidentiary hearing on May 2, 2011, and on June 22, 2011, that court issued an “Opinion and Order” finding Liudmila in civil contempt.9

In its Opinion and Order, the Circuit Court found that Liudmila violated the mutual property injunction during the weeks after it was entered, by transferring or spending $106,144.73 in excess of what “was needed in the ordinary course of living.” The Circuit Court ordered Liud-mila to pay that amount to Findling, Receiver within 30 days. The court indicated that it might fine or incarcerate Liudmila if she did not comply with the order.10

The day after the Circuit Court entered its Opinion and Order, Liudmila filed her Chapter 7 bankruptcy case in this Court.

B. Debtor’s pre-petition personal injury settlement

Meanwhile, in March 2011, while the contempt proceedings were pending [462]*462against her in the 2009 Divorce Case, and some three months before she filed bankruptcy, Liudmila settled a personal injury claim that she had been pursuing, with the assistance of counsel. After payment of attorney fees and expenses, Liudmila received a total of $46,862.08 from the settlement. She received this sum in the form of two checks from her attorney: (1) a check dated March 31, 2011 for $44,206.56; and (2) a check dated April 21, 2011 for $2,655.52.11

C. Debtor’s failure to fully account for the settlement proceeds, and her failure to disclose $5,470.00 in cash settlement proceeds in her original Schedule B

Liudmila testified at trial that she spent most of her $46,862.08 in settlement money before she filed bankruptcy. She testified that on May 8, 2011, she flew to Russia to visit her mother, who was having serious health problems.12 Liudmila testified that she took about $40,000 of the settlement money with her on this trip, and that she spent all but $5,000 to $7,000 of this money while in Russia. She further testified that she spent the money in Russia to pay for various services for her ailing mother, including medical and nursing services; a home health aide; and massage services.

This spending by Liudmila may have violated an order of the Oakland County Circuit Court. The parties have stipulated that in one of the divorce cases — which one is not clear — “[o]n March 2, 2011, the Oakland County Circuit Court entered a preliminary injunction prohibiting Debtor from engaging in any transfer in excess of $3,000.00.”13

By no later than June 23, 2011, Debtor had returned from Russia to the Detroit area. That is the day she signed and filed her bankruptcy petition.14

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
487 B.R. 457, 2012 WL 2704924, 2012 Bankr. LEXIS 3060, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lim-v-storozhenko-in-re-storozhenko-mieb-2012.