Moore ex rel. CD Liquidation Trust v. Paladini (In re CD Liquidation Co., LLC)

462 B.R. 124
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Delaware
DecidedNovember 2, 2011
DocketBankruptcy No. 09-13038(KG); Adversary No. 11-51643(KG)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 462 B.R. 124 (Moore ex rel. CD Liquidation Trust v. Paladini (In re CD Liquidation Co., LLC)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore ex rel. CD Liquidation Trust v. Paladini (In re CD Liquidation Co., LLC), 462 B.R. 124 (Del. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

KEVIN GROSS, Bankruptcy Judge.

The plaintiff, Charles M. Moore, is the duly appointed trustee (the “Liquidation Trustee”) of the CD Liquidation Trust created pursuant to the confirmed plan of liquidation of the substantively consolidated estates of CD Liquidation Co., LLC f/k/a Cynergy Data, LLC (“CD Liquidation”), CD Liquidation Co. Plus, LLC, f/k/a Cynergy Prosperity Plus, LLC (“CD Plus”) and Cynergy Data Holdings, Inc. (“CD Holdings”) and, together with CD Liquidation and CD Plus, (the “Debtors”).

The Liquidation Trustee has filed an adversary proceeding and moved pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 7065 (the “Injunction Motion”) [Adv. D.I. 3], to enjoin defendant Marcelo Paladini (“Paladini”) from continuing to prosecute certain claims against John Martillo (“Martillo”) that are the subject of an action (the “Paladini Action”) that Paladini initiated in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “New York District Court”). Marcelo Paladini v. John Martillo, Index No. 10 CIV 3220-RJH. Martillo intervened in the adversary proceeding and joined with the Liquidation Trustee in seeking injunctive relief. Mar-tillo has made a very significant contribution in support of the Injunction Motion.

The Injunction Motion is premised on the Liquidation Trustee’s claim that the causes of action that Paladini seeks to assert against Martillo in the Paladini Action arise out of and relate to Debtors’ allegedly (and disputed) improper redemption of Martillo’s equity interests in the Debtors and thus are derivative claims belonging not to Paladini but to the Liquidation Trustee as the successor-in-interest to the Debtors’ estates. The Liquidation Trustee also argues that the Court’s exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all such causes of action was expressly reserved in the Joint Plan of Liquidation of Debtors [D.I. 1190] (the “Plan”) and the Order Confirming the Joint Plan of Liquidation of Debtors [D.I. 1202] (the “Confirmation Order”). Paladini seeks to prosecute in his name, and before the New York District Court, causes of action that the Liquidation Trustee asserts belong to him to bring before this Court. The Liquidation Trustee therefore filed the Complaint and the Injunction Motion. Paladini has moved to dismiss the Complaint and objects to the request for injunctive relief, arguing that the Complaint fails to state a claim and there is no basis to enjoin him from prosecuting the Paladini Action. The Court finds that Paladini’s arguments are wholly without merit, bordering on, if not, bad faith, and the Court denies the Injunction Motion and Objection. Neither Pala-dini nor his lawyer should think for one moment that the egregious misstatements [129]*129of the record and misleading arguments were lost on the Court.

The New York District Court has been awaiting this Court’s decision too long and respectfully deferred to the Court’s determination. The Court will therefore address only the basic facts necessary for the Court’s decision.

RELEVANT FACTS

Paladini’s claims arise from two transactions in 2007 through which Cynergy redeemed Martillo’s shares for $46.5 million (the “Redemptions”). Paladini approved the Redemptions both in his individual and executive capacities.

On September 1, 2009, approximately two years after the Redemptions, Cynergy commenced its bankruptcy case. Shortly thereafter, Cynergy’s lenders sued Paladi-ni in two state court lawsuits (the “Dymas case” and the “Garrison case”). The lawsuits attacked Paladini’s conduct in obtaining loans on Cynergy’s behalf and using loan proceeds to redeem Martillo’s shares (and also to make payments to himself). See N.Y. Complaint ¶22 (“Among other things, the lawsuits allege that Paladini improperly procured and utilized the Loan Proceeds, the majority of which went to [Martillo], based upon certain alleged misstatements of financial information/records of the Companies”).

The state court lawsuits never proceeded to judgment because they were stayed at Paladini’s request due to Cynergy’s bankruptcy case. In both cases, Paladini argued that the banks’ claims were derivative claims, property of Cynergy’s estate and barred by the automatic stay. See Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant Marcelo Paladini’s Motion to Dismiss, filed in the Dymas Funding case (“Paladi-ni’s Dymas Brief’ or “PDB”), at pp. 7-16; Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant Marcelo Paladini’s Motion to Dismiss, filed in the Garrison case, at pp. 6-16.

Paladini’s Litigation Against Martillo

Paladini brought suit against Martillo in April 2010 by filing a complaint in the New York District Court, and thereafter filed an amended complaint (the “NY Complaint”). The N.Y. Complaint alleges, in sum:

1. Plaintiff brings this civil action against Defendant for contribution, improper distribution, unjust enrichment or, in the alternative, constructive trust.
2. Specifically, this suit arises from Defendant’s receiving $46.5 million in improper payments with regard to the so-called redemption of all of his shares of stock in [Cynergy]. The amounts paid to Defendant were far in excess of the fair market value of his shares and thus benefitted Defendant at the expense of Plaintiff, as a result of which Plaintiff now faces lawsuits from third parties seeking to hold him liable for the funds Defendant received and wrongfully retained. In addition, as a consequence of the excessive payments to Defendant, the value of Plaintiffs shares in the subject companies were drastically diminished and/or vitiated, ultimately bankrupting [Cynergy].

NY Complaint, ¶¶ 1-2.

In the improper distribution count, Pala-dini alleges that Cynergy redeemed Mar-tillo’s shares while insolvent or while its capital was impaired. Id. ¶¶ 29-30. Pala-dini alleges that the Redemptions caused him personal injury because he received less than he would have received for his shares. Id. ¶ 31.

In the unjust enrichment count, Paladini seeks the imposition of a constructive trust [130]*130against Martillo based on the same allegations that Martillo inequitably received more than he should have because of the Redemptions. Id. ¶ 37. Paladini further alleges that he suffered injury from Mar-tillo’s purported unjust enrichment because the Redemptions led to Cynergy’s subsequent bankruptcy, which diminished the value of Paladini’s shares and led to lawsuits against him by other creditors. Id. ¶ 38.

Paladini pleads two purported harms in his N.Y. Complaint: (1) the Redemptions allegedly diminished the value of his shares (N.Y. Complaint ¶¶ 20, 31, 38 & PO 3); and (2) the Redemptions allegedly caused him to be sued by other creditors (N.Y. Complaint ¶¶ 22-26, 38 & PO 3-4). Martillo moved to dismiss the N.Y. Complaint, on the ground that Paladini’s Re-demptions claims are for indirect harms that Paladini lacks standing to assert.

The Plan

After Paladini filed the N.Y. Complaint, Cynergy confirmed and consummated the Plan. See D.I. 1202 (Confirmation Order); D.I. 1197 (Plan of Liquidation). Among other things, the Plan grants the Liquidation Trustee the exclusive right to assert actions under Section 544 of the Bankruptcy Code. See Plan pp.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
462 B.R. 124, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-ex-rel-cd-liquidation-trust-v-paladini-in-re-cd-liquidation-co-deb-2011.