Schwab v. United States, Internal Revenue Service (In re Shop N' Go Partnership)

261 B.R. 810, 2001 Bankr. LEXIS 413, 87 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1718
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 15, 2001
DocketBankruptcy No. 5-94-00705; Adversary No. 5-98-00311A
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 261 B.R. 810 (Schwab v. United States, Internal Revenue Service (In re Shop N' Go Partnership)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schwab v. United States, Internal Revenue Service (In re Shop N' Go Partnership), 261 B.R. 810, 2001 Bankr. LEXIS 413, 87 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1718 (Pa. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION 1

JOHN J. THOMAS, Bankruptcy Judge.

The Trustee in this Chapter 7 case is requesting this Court to use its equitable powers to disgorge a sum of money paid to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) during a Chapter 11 reorganization proceeding. That payment was made pursuant to a settlement agreement approved by this Court. The Trustee claims this payment was made fraudulently, was inconsistent with the Chapter 11 Reorganization Plan and the Bankruptcy Code, and was a violation of the Debtor’s in Possession (“DIP”) fiduciary duty to its creditors. This Court is unpersuaded by the Trustee’s arguments and, accordingly, finds in favor of the Defendant, IRS.

Pursuant to a settlement agreement with the IRS in a Chapter 11 proceeding, the DIP paid its FICA and other prepetition tax obligations to the IRS. The settlement provided that the secured tax debt would be reduced from $198,488.90 to $120,000, and the administrative expenses would be reduced from $15,383.02 to $12,623.21. It also provided that the pay[813]*813ment of these monies would take place within 30 days after the confirmation of the Plan, the IRS would change its secured status to unsecured priority status, and the IRS would agree to the DIP’s Chapter 11 Plan. The DIP paid $132,597.11 on August 22, 1995 to the IRS after the Plan was confirmed and before the other Chapter 11 creditors. Thereafter, the Chapter 11 was converted to a Chapter 7 on January 27, 1997. When the Chapter 7 Trustee was appointed, he found that the estate was insolvent. Thus, in November 1998, he petitioned this Court to disgorge that payment the DIP made to the IRS. The Trustee alleges that the DIP perpetrated a fraud on the postpetition creditors when it made payment to satisfy the pre-petition tax debt to the IRS before satisfying the post-filing expenses of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy. (Brief in Support of the Position of the Trustee for Recoupment of Funds Paid to IRS filed 2/17/00 at 8 (Doc. # 21A).)

Bankruptcy Rule 9024, Relief From Judgment or Order, incorporates Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 60(b) states: “On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or a party’s legal representative from final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: ... (3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; ....” Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b).

Here, the Trustee implicated the element of fraud under Rule 60(b)(3). In Field v. Mans, 516 U.S. 59, 116 S.Ct. 437, 133 L.Ed.2d 351 (1995), the Supreme Court looked to the common law in its analysis of fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, and deceit. It wrote, “the most widely accepted distillation of the common law of torts [is] the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1976).” Id., 116 S.Ct. at 443-444. That “distillation” can be found in Section 525 of the Restatement, Liability for Fraudulent Misrepresentation, which incorporates the following elements established by the historical development of the common law in causes of action in deceit (fraud):

1. A false representation made by the defendant. In the ordinary case, this representation must be one of fact.
2. Knowledge or belief on the part of the defendant that the representation is false — or, what is regarded as equivalent, that he has not a sufficient basis of information to make it. This element often is given the technical name of “scienter.”
3. An intention to induce the plaintiff to act or to refrain from action in reliance upon the misrepresentation.
4. Justifiable reliance upon the representation on the part of the plaintiff, in taking action or refraining from it.
5. Damage to the plaintiff, resulting from such reliance.

William L. Prosser, Handbook of the Law of Torts § 100 (3rd ed.1964).

In addition, “[a] representation of the maker’s own intention to do or not to do a particular thing is fraudulent if he does not have that intention.” Restatement (Second) of Torts § 530(1) (1976).

b. To be actionable the statement of the maker’s own intention must be fraudulent, which is to say that he must in fact not have the intention stated.... If the statement is honestly made and the intention in fact exists, one who acts in justifiable reliance upon it cannot maintain an action of deceit if the maker for any reason changes his mind and fails or refuses to carry his expressed intention into effect.

Restatement (Second) of Torts § 530(1) cmt. b (1976).

[814]*814The Supreme Court set the preponderance of the evidence standard as the appropriate burden to be used when analyzing nondischargeability for fraud under § 523(a). Grogan v. Garner, 498 U.S. 279, 111 S.Ct. 654, 112 L.Ed.2d 755 (1991). This Court sees no reason to stray from using this standard when analyzing disgorgement of payments made due to fraud. Therefore, essential to the Trustee prevailing on this Complaint is meeting the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the parties to the settlement agreement committed an actual fraud, i.e., intentionally made false representations to induce the payment of the prepetition tax debt to the detriment of the other creditors. For the reasons below, this Court finds the Trustee has not met his burden.

In furtherance of his position, the Trustee argued that if the settlement agreement was intended to change the payment priorities under the Plan, the creditors did not receive adequate notice. (Trustee’s Brief at 3 (Doc. # 21A).) Due process requires that notice be sufficiently adequate “to apprise interested parties of the pendency of the action and afford them an opportunity to present their objections.” Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 314, 70 S.Ct. 652, 657, 94 L.Ed. 865 (1950). In determining reasonable notice, “the court must consider the totality of the circumstances, including whether the alleged inadequacies prejudice the creditors and whether the creditor receives notice in time to take ‘meaningful action’ in response to the impending deprivation of its rights.” In re Dartmoor Homes, Inc., 175 B.R. 659, 670 (Bankr.N.D.Ill.1994). Here, the notice outlined specific terms of the agreement including the amount and timing of payment to the IRS and informed the creditors of the time requirements for filing objections to the agreement. (Government Exhibit 5.) This Court finds, as a conclusion of law, that reasonable and adequate notice of the settlement was given to the creditors. There are no facts to the contrary. Thus, the Trustee has not proven that the DIP misled the creditors with regard to notice of the stipulated settlement agreement.

In addition, the Trustee has not met his burden of showing that the DIP and the IRS intended to deceive the other Chapter 11 creditors. There was no misrepresentation of the DIP’s intent to pay the IRS according to the settlement agreement.

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Bluebook (online)
261 B.R. 810, 2001 Bankr. LEXIS 413, 87 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1718, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schwab-v-united-states-internal-revenue-service-in-re-shop-n-go-pamb-2001.