Palatine National Bank v. Olson (In Re Olson)

98 B.R. 944, 1988 Bankr. LEXIS 2534
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedJuly 11, 1988
Docket19-40607
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 98 B.R. 944 (Palatine National Bank v. Olson (In Re Olson)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Palatine National Bank v. Olson (In Re Olson), 98 B.R. 944, 1988 Bankr. LEXIS 2534 (Minn. 1988).

Opinion

ORDER

DENNIS D. O’BRIEN, Bankruptcy Judge.

This objection to discharge and dis-chargeability action came on for trial January 4,1988. Appearances were as noted in the record. The Court having considered memoranda and arguments of counsel, the testimony given at trial, and having reviewed the documentary evidence offered and received, now being fully advised in the matter, hereby makes this Order pursuant to the Federal and Local Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.

I.

OVERVIEW

Kenneth Olson’s career began in the family furniture business. But even as a young man, he saw his future in real estate. In 1966, at age 29, Olson became the fifth shareholder in an apartment complex development corporation known as High Site, Inc. Nine years later, he was the corporation’s sole shareholder. By the summer of 1975, Olson held interests in numerous real estate ventures through stock or membership in various corporations and partnerships. At that time, he claimed to have a net worth of just over $5,000,000.00, mostly attributable to real estate related investments.

In 1976, Olson began to bury evidence of much of his interests in the investments. He created what purported to be an irrevocable trust for the benefit of his children and used it as part of a sophisticated rearrangement and manipulation of his assets and entities.

By late summer of 1978, the burial was nearly complete. Olson conveyed his homestead to Karen Strom, his second wife, shortly after their marriage on August 11,1978. Finally, in early 1979, Olson sold Strom his stock in a corporation known as “Carlton Bloomington Dinner Theater, Inc.” for $500.00. That transaction left Olson ostensibly without significant assets. It also set the stage for his pursuit and development of the most ambitious project and colossal failure of his career — the Carlton Celebrity Theater (Carlton).

The Carlton was a dinner theater that provided live entertainment by some of the more well-known celebrity entertainers in the nation. Olson developed and operated the project through Strom. The dinner theater was opened for business in September of 1980. The corporation filed a petition for relief under 11 U.S.C. Chapter 11, on June 13, 1986. The Carlton ceased operation on July 1, 1987, and the case was converted to Chapter 7 on the same day. Kenneth Olson filed a petition under Chapter 7 on October 20, 1986, scheduling nominal assets. Karen Strom filed for relief under Chapter 11 on January 20, 1987, scheduling as assets the real estate on which the Carlton sits, and the corporate *946 stock. High Site, Inc., filed its petition under Chapter 11 on February 21, 1986. The case was subsequently dismissed without significant equity in the estate.

The Trust had never been funded, other than nominally. The various assets in which it held interests had either been foreclosed or otherwise disposed of before the bankruptcies and the Trust ultimately had no value.

II.

THE TRIAL

Palatine National Bank is a creditor of Olson and some of the entities he had been openly connected with prior to 1979. The Bank had been pursuing Olson to collect its debt for many years before the bankruptcies. On October 10, 1984, judgment was entered in state court against him in favor of Palatine for $874,890.23, together with accrued interest. Subsequently, the Bank pursued Olson through post-judgment collection proceedings until the filing of his bankruptcy petition.

After Olson filed for relief under Chapter 7, Palatine sued to have his discharge barred: under § 727(a)(4)(A) for making false statements or accounts in connection with the bankruptcy case; under § 727(a)(2)(A) for removing, concealing, and transferring his property to delay and hinder his creditors within one year preceding the filing of his petition; and under § 727(a)(5) for failure to satisfactorily explain the loss of assets. Alternatively, the Bank seeks nondischargeability of its debt under § 523(a)(2)(A) on grounds that it was incurred by fraud.

Two weeks were calendared for a trial of this case that began on January 4, 1988. Palatine’s witness list disclosed Plaintiff's intent to call 19 witnesses. Its exhibit list disclosed 109 exhibits to be offered. Olson’s witness list disclosed Defendant’s intent to call 24 witnesses. His exhibit list disclosed 12 proposed exhibits.

Plaintiff opened with a generalized statement; put 139 exhibits totalling an estimated 2,000 pages into evidence; called six witnesses (one of whom was Olson) for relatively brief testimony and rested. Testimony was completed in one-and-one-half days of sessions that began late and recessed early. Defendant did not ask a single question of any of Plaintiff’s witnesses; and, although he had opened with a detailed, precise, and well-prepared statement of his own evidence, Olson called no witnesses. Defendant put 11 exhibits into evidence and rested. It was an unusual trial.

In its post-trial brief, Plaintiff explains that the shortness of the trial resulted from: a last-minute withdrawal by Defendant of foundational objections to admissibility of its documentary evidence; the fact that the documents “speak for themselves” as evidence; and, failure of the Defendant to put in a case. Actually, there were no foundational objections made to admissibility of Plaintiff’s documents. Pretrial objections were made to some listed exhibits on grounds that they were not sufficiently identified to place Defendant on notice of what specific documents were intended to be offered. The remaining objections were on grounds on relevancy. ,

At conclusion of the Plaintiff’s case, Defendant moved for judgment on grounds of failure of the evidence, arguing that it was wholly inappropriate to dump the voluminous documents into evidence without a detailed opening statement or significant testimony so as to provide something for the Defendant to defend against. 1 Plaintiff countered that this was a “documents” case; and, that the Defendant knew it was a “documents” case as well as precisely what the damning evidence was — the parties had been litigating against one another for years.

The Court was concerned, given the scope of the allegations, whether due process might require something more of the Plaintiff, especially regarding the § 727(a)(5) claim of failure to explain loss *947 or deficiency of assets. In support of his motion for judgment, Defendant observed that Olson was not asked to explain a single, significant thing by Plaintiff, either during the pendency of the bankruptcy case or in the course of this adversary proceeding, even when called for cross-examination at trial. In fact, counsel argued, the only question posed during the trial asking anyone to explain anything regarding loss of assets came from the Court and was directed at Karen Strom. 2

The Court was surprised by the abortion of the trial and was not prepared to rule on the Defendant’s motion. The Defendant was told that the matter would be taken under advisement. Thereupon he opened his case, put his exhibits into evidence, and immediately rested without calling a single witness.

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Bluebook (online)
98 B.R. 944, 1988 Bankr. LEXIS 2534, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/palatine-national-bank-v-olson-in-re-olson-mnb-1988.