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KEY READING
This story is told in the court filings. As William Maloof, the founder of Level Propane, learned more about the scheme to seize control of the company, he would return to the Bankruptcy Court in an attempt to relate this story in the hopes of obtaining relief. Relief has not been forthcoming. The latest material, in which Judge Baxter has been implicated, may have answered that question. The court filings are organized by Motion, which will link you to a docket page from which you will be able to access the court filings bearing on that motion.
THE MOTION TO VACATE AGREED CONVERSION ORDER OF June 6, 2006: in this Motion the story is told based on the scant knowledge available from a very few witnesses and no documentation. On appeal, Judge Aldrich upheld the Bankruptcy Court but stated that were Maloof to make further record in the Bankruptcy Court, the Court would “likely” overturn the Conversion Order in “the interests of justice.”
THE MOTION TO VACATE AGREED CONVERSION ORDER AND SALE ORDER OF September 7, 2007: in this Motion, the story is told with witness statements and e-mail exchanges provided by Jonathan Caldwell. A conclusive showing that checks were concealed and cashed after the going concern was out of bankruptcy court jurisdiction was made through the Jeff Kessler Statement, a conclusive showing that 30-40% of the customer base was concealed is made by the statements of Suzanne Arena. These statements are amplified by e-mails that show the scheme in action.
MOTION TO DISQUALIFY DEBTOR’S COUNSEL January 22, 2008: Judge Ann Aldrich called BFCA “officers of the Court representing the Bank Group,” in her decision of August, 2007. Since BFCA could not represent the Debtors and the Bank Group at the same time, Maloof moved to disqualify them based on this statement in her opinion. BFCA claimed that she was simply mistaken, and the Bankruptcy Court, took their word over that of a District Judge and denied the Motion.
THE MOTION TO COMPROMISE LEVEL v MALOOF January 31, 2008:the Debtors sued Maloof for looting Level before it was thrown into bankruptcy by the Bank Group. He denied the unfounded allegations. The Debtors took the claim to mediation, where the full value of the Director’s & Officer’s Policy, renewed by AIG a year after the original extension had expired, was settled upon. Maloof did not participate in the mediation, insisting on a trial. The Bankruptcy Court approved the settlement over Maloof’s objection, despite the irregularities in the AIG policy and AIG’s prominent role in the propane futures market.
THE MOTION TO VACATE OF June 18, 2008: nearly a year after the September, 2007 Motion to Vacate was filed, new evidence was found that showed that John Verbos and Richard (Dick) Anter had a customer payment check concealment scheme in operation since December, 2001 that they put to bed for the season in August, 2002. Maloof brought this to the attention of the Bankruptcy Court by means of this Motion. The Court ruled that because the September 7, 2007 Motion to Vacate was on appeal, it had no jurisdiction to consider the evidence and denied the Motion.
THE TURNOVER MOTION of June 30, 2008: the Debtors’ Counsel did not believe the Verbos-Anter e-mails were genuine. They had to get them in electronic form quickly in order to discredit them. They asked the Court to expedite discovery of the media on which these e-mails were found, making an incidental observation that the tapes and discs were made by employees of Level Propane. The Court ordered them turned over. It is presently on appeal.
THE TAL FINANCIAL MOTION TO VACATE of September 23, 2008 sought to Vacate the Conversion Order and the Sale Order on the basis of fraud, focusing on the Verbos-Anter e-mails.
THE REVOCATION COMPLAINTS seek to revoke the Confirmation Order based on fraud. They were filed by Bill Wilhelm (Wilhelm v. Uhrich, Case No. 09-1116), Maxus Capital (Maxus v. Uhrich, Case No. 09-1118) and William Maloof (Maloof v. Uhrich, Case No. 1127.)
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