Mills v. Caisse (In re Caisse)

568 B.R. 6, 2017 Bankr. LEXIS 486
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. New York
DecidedFebruary 21, 2017
DocketCase No. 15-12777 (SMB); Adv. Pro. No. 15-01435
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 568 B.R. 6 (Mills v. Caisse (In re Caisse)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mills v. Caisse (In re Caisse), 568 B.R. 6, 2017 Bankr. LEXIS 486 (N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO DISMISS FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT

STUART M. BERNSTEIN, United States Bankruptcy Judge

Charlie Mills a/k/a Charles Mills (“Mills”) and Salera Capital Management, LLC (“Salera,” and collectively with Mills, the “Plaintiffs”), through their First Amended Complaint, dated Aug. 12, 2016 (“FAC”) (ECF Doc. # 16),1 seek money [9]*9judgments on their claims and a declaration that the debts are nondischargeable. Bryan Caisse, the defendant and debtor, has moved to dismiss the FAC for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure made applicable to this adversary proceeding by Rule 7012 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. (Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant Bryan Caisse’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint, dated Aug. 26, 2016 (the “Motion”), at 1-2 (ECF Doc. # 19).) For the reasons that follow, the Motion is granted in part and denied in part, and Salera is granted leave to replead the dismissed claims.

BACKGROUND

Mills and Caisse attended the United States Naval Academy, and subsequently served in the Marine Corps and Navy, respectively. (¶¶ 12-16, 23.)2 After Mills left the Marine Corps, he joined Bear Stearns & Company and subsequently founded Salera, an entity that made short-term secured and unsecured loans mostly to Government contractors. (¶¶ 17-20.) After Caisse left the Navy, he worked in the financial industry. (¶ 25.) He remained active in the extensive network of Naval Academy alumni, which included Mills, and they maintained a close personal relationship largely based on their shared college and military experiences. (¶¶ 24,26.)

A. The Loans

In March 2009, Caisse contacted Mills to borrow money. (¶32.) According to the FAC, Caisse made two false statements to induce Mills or Salera to make a loan. First, he told Mills that he needed the funds for a venture, Huxley Capital Management (“Huxley”). (¶ 33.) Second, he claimed that he was due a significant tax refund and would send the refund directly to Salera as payment for the loan. (¶ 36.) To bolster this representation, Caisse sent Mills a copy of his 2008 tax return, under cover of a letter from Bloom CPA, PLLC, and an IRS Form 8822—a change of address form—dated April 4, 2006. (¶ 36.) Together, they purported to show that Caisse was due a tax refund of $175,144, and the refund would be sent directly to Mills. (¶ 37.) Relying on these representations, Salera made a loan to Caisse or Huxley in April 2009 (the “April Loan”), but the FAC does not state the amount of the loan. (¶ 38.)

By August 2009, Caisse had defaulted on the April Loan, and sought to refinance it. (¶41.) To induce a second loan, Caisse made further representations to Mills, including that the IRS refund had not been received but was imminent. (¶ 41.) On or about August 5 and 6, 2009, Caisse and Salera entered into an agreement to loan Caisse $150,000, to be repaid within ninety days, Caisse signed two promissory notes, and Salera disbursed $150,000 to Caisse (the “August Loan”). (¶¶ 42-44.) The April 2009 loan was eventually repaid, (¶ 38), apparently from another source of funds.

The due date for the repayment of the August Loan was November 3, 2009, but Caisse defaulted. (¶ 47.) Following the default, Caisse made several false statements to Mills to the effect that repayment would be forthcoming, and as a result, Mills and Salera did not take legal action. (¶¶ 48-53.) On January 21, 2010, Mills sent Caisse a demand letter advising him of his default, (¶ 55; FAC, Ex. A), but Caisse and a person purporting to be Caisse’s attorney [10]*10continued to indicate that Caisse would repay the August Loan, and Mills and Salera continued to forebear. (¶¶ 56-68.)

On February 6, 2012, Mills sued Caisse in Virginia state court. (¶ 69.) Following a one-day trial at which both Mills and Caisse testified, the court found in Salera’s favor and entered a judgment on March 12, 2013 in the amount of $694,910, plus post-judgment interest at the judgment rate (the “Judgment”). (¶¶ 76-77.) Of that amount, $150,000 represented the unpaid August Loan. On May 31, 2013, the Judgment was domesticated as a New York judgment.3 (¶ 78.)

B. The Criminal Proceedings

Around the same time, the New York District Attorney (the “DA”) began a criminal investigation of Caisse. (¶¶ 79-81.) On October 9, 2013, Caisse’s attorney asked the DA to return Caisse’s passport, which had been seized during the execution of a search warrant, stating that Caisse had to travel on business and would return to face any proceedings. (¶¶ 82-83.) In addition, the DA was assured that Caisse would not abandon his young daughter. (¶84.) The DA returned the passport, but Caisse fled to Colombia. (¶¶ 84-89.)

Sometime thereafter, the DA indicted Caisse on eleven counts. (FAC, Ex. C.) Counts III and IV charged Caisse with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree against “INDIVIDUAL #3” during the periods August 6 to August 26, 2009 and April 7, 2009 to May 8, 2009, respectively. “INDIVIDUAL #3” referred to Mills. (¶94.) Count XI charged Caisse with a Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, alleging that between April 2008 and October 25, 2013, he “engaged in a scheme constituting a systematic ongoing course of conduct with intent to defraud more than one person and to obtain property from more than one person by false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises.”

Caisse was subsequently arrested in Bogota, Colombia on January 18, 2014, and returned to the United States. (¶ 89.) The DA’s Office issued a press release a few days later announcing the indictment. (¶ 99.) The press release stated that Caisse had run a Ponzi scheme through Huxley, had defrauded friends and Naval Academy classmates of over $1 million and had made additional fraudulent representations to evade his victims’ efforts to collect their money. (Id.; accord ¶ 101.)

Caisse pleaded guilty on August 11, 2014 in the Supreme Court of the State of New York to Counts VIII and XI, (¶ 103; FAC, Ex. D), and was sentenced to 1 ½ to 4 ½ years in prison. (¶ 107.) The Supreme Court issued an Order, dated November 12, 2015 (the “Restitution Order”), (FAC, Ex. E, at pp. 1-5), as part of the plea agreement. Among other things,, the Restitution Order required Caisse to pay restitution to Safe Horizon which was designated pursuant to New York Criminal Procedure Law § 420.10(1) as the restitution agency. (Restitution Order at p. 1 II2.) Safe Horizon would receive the payments, establish a restitution fund, and distribute the payments to the individuals listed on the annexed Exhibit A. (Id. at pp. 1-3 ¶¶ 2, 5.) Exhibit A included Mills and indicated that he was due restitution in the amount of $119,000.00. In addition, Caisse signed an Affidavit of Confession of Judgment, sworn to October 8, 2014 (the “Confession”) in favor, inter alia, of Mills [11]*11for the same amount. (FAC, Ex. E at p. 7 ¶ 2.)

C. The Bankruptcy

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568 B.R. 6, 2017 Bankr. LEXIS 486, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mills-v-caisse-in-re-caisse-nywb-2017.