Nordberg v. Murphy (In re Chase & Sanborn Corp.)

55 B.R. 451, 1985 Bankr. LEXIS 5213
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Florida.
DecidedOctober 2, 1985
DocketBankruptcy No. 83-00889-BKC-TCB; Adv. Nos. 85-0704-BKC-TCB-A, 85-0705-BKC-TCB-A
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 55 B.R. 451 (Nordberg v. Murphy (In re Chase & Sanborn Corp.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, S.D. Florida. primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nordberg v. Murphy (In re Chase & Sanborn Corp.), 55 B.R. 451, 1985 Bankr. LEXIS 5213 (Fla. 1985).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION

THOMAS C. BRITTON, Bankruptcy Judge.

Plaintiff is a liquidating trustee selected by the creditors and appointed through the chapter 11 plan confirmed in August 1984 for the debtor, Chase & Sanborn Corp. In these two adversary proceedings, the trustee seeks subordination of very large claims filed against this debtor’s estate on behalf of two other related bankruptcy estates. Number 85-0704 is against the liquidating trustee for the estate of chapter 7 debtor Alberto Duque, a case presently pending before me. Number 85-0705 is against a chapter 11 debtor-in-possession, Colombian Coffee Co. This case is also pending before me.

The claim against Chase & Sanborn, which is involved in No. 85-0704 is claim # 347 in the amount of $11.9 million. The claim involved in No. 85-0705 is # 288 for $50 million damages multiplied by three as a R.I.C.O. claim, making a total of $150 million.

The claims of other creditors against the assets of Chase & Sanborn, which were sold last year, substantially exceed the assets of this debtor’s estate. Therefore, subordination of these claims is as a practical matter the denial of these claims against the assets of this debtor. It presently appears completely unlikely that the claims of creditors against either of the defendants’ bankruptcy estates can ever be satisfied through the administration of those cases. The essential conflict here, therefore, is whether the unaffiliated creditors of Chase & Sanborn must share the assets of Chase & Sanborn with the unaffiliated creditors of two other bankrupt entities, Duque and. Colombian Coffee.

This debtor filed for bankruptcy on May 18, 1983. On the following day, Duque, Colombian Coffee and Domino Investments, a Cayman Islands corporation, also filed for bankruptcy. Duque dominated and controlled each of the other three entities. Through Domino, Duque held 100% control of Chase & Sanborn. Duque and members of his family held 100% control of Colombian Coffee.

Duque, a native of Colombia, so managed his own affairs and the affairs of the entities he controlled that it is not economically feasible now (if indeed it would be possible) to reconstruct the financial records of any of the four entities with even relative precision. All participants in these cases agree that the available records are a mess.

For the foregoing reason, and perhaps other reasons as well, Colombian Coffee sought substantive consolidation of these [453]*453four estates many months ago. (C.P. No. 1033). That application was fiercely resisted by other interested parties and, after a hearing, was denied. (C.P. No. 1062). That decision was not appealed and has become final.

Each of the parties before me has attempted through the investigation and testimony of capable and disinterested CPA’s to reconstruct enough of the debtors’ affairs to express general conclusions necessary to the resolution of the issue before me. Unfortunately, these diligent experts do not agree.

The plaintiff’s proof through a financial consultant employed by Chase & Sanborn (which at that time was known as General Coffee Corporation) two weeks before bankruptcy has convinced me that this debtor has been grossly insolvent at least since September 30, 1982. He was able to establish with satisfactory precision that on the date of bankruptcy, May 18, 1983, the debtor was insolvent to the tune of $26 million, and he was able to work backward from that date to September 30, 1982, by adjustments for substantial transactions through available records of the debtor and from other sources. A certified audit, again prepared by independent CPA’s, existed for the debtor as of September 30, 1982.

That audit showed the debtor to be solvent and was used to obtain a $35 million line of credit from a Boston banking syndicate. However, this witness has also demonstrated that a large part of the assets relied upon in the certified audit were fictitious. The huge inventories of coffee beans simply did not exist. With adjustment for the inflated assets, this debtor was seriously insolvent on the date of that audit.

There is no present basis known to me, however, to reject the other data which formed a part of that audit. The plaintiff’s witnesses, by using that audit and the working papers of those independent auditors, have demonstrated that Chase & San-born was a net creditor with respect to Duque and the related entities controlled by him to the extent of approximately $5.7 million as of September 30, 1982. By the date of bankruptcy, May 18, 1983, that net creditor situation had increased to $13.5 million. The documentation for these transactions is so sparse that one must guess at their purpose and justification. Duque, who is presently in trial on criminal fraud charges, has invoked the Fifth Amendment and offers no help. At least $2 million was paid during this interval to Duque individually.

Colombian Coffee was the affiliate that supplied coffee beans processed by Chase & Sanborn. It received payment through a letter of credit for $2.1 million in February, 1983, about 90 days before bankruptcy, upon bills of lading which were found to be fraudulent, representing fictitious coffee.

Plaintiff’s complaint against each defendant is cast in three counts. The first alleges preferential transfers under 11 U.S.C. § 547. The second alleges fraudulent transfers under § 548. At trial, plaintiff abandoned count 1 as to the estate of Du-que. Plaintiff does not seek the recovery of anything under any of these counts. The bankruptcy automatic stay in § 362(a) would prevent such a recovery. Instead, plaintiff invokes § 502(d) which requires that this court:

“disallow any claim of any entity ... that is a transferee of a transfer avoidable under section ... 547, 548 ... of this title, unless such entity or transferee has paid the amount, or turned over any such property, for which such entity or transferee is liable ...”

At trial, with the consent of all the parties, the trial was restricted to the issues presented by count 3, leaving counts 1 and 2 to be tried if plaintiff fails to prevail on count 3.

Count 3 is based upon § 510(c)(1):

“after notice and a hearing, the court may (1) under principles of equitable subordination, subordinate for purposes of distribution all or part of an allowed claim to all or part of another allowed claim ...”

[454]*454The bankruptcy doctrine of equitable subordination had its genesis in Taylor v. Standard Gas & Electric Co., 306 U.S. 307, 59 S.Ct. 543, 83 L.Ed. 669 (1939) and Pepper v. Litton, 308 U.S. 295, 60 S.Ct. 238, 84 L.Ed. 281 (1939). It remained a judicially devised rule until the 1978 enactment of § 510(c)(1).

In Benjamin v. Diamond (In re Mobile Steel Co.), 563 F.2d 692, 699-700 (5th Cir.1977), the basic principles were announced as follows:

“Three conditions must be satisfied before exercise of the power of equitable subordination is appropriate.

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