Bankruptcy Trustee for ‘Santa Barbara News-Press’ Attempts to Claw Back Buildings

At the time of the bankruptcy filing of the Santa Barbara News-Press, many wondered how the company, owned by billionaire Wendy McCaw, could have only $50,000 in assets. Required to do more than wonder are bankruptcy trustee Jerry Namba of Santa Maria and his attorney, Michael D’Alba of Danning Gill in Los Angeles, who filed a lawsuit against McCaw — through her company Ampersand Publishing LLC dba Santa Barbara News-Press — on December 26 alleging she fraudulently transferred ownership of the flagship building on De la Guerra Plaza and its printing plant in Goleta from her publishing company to herself — through two other limited liability companies she owned. The two properties are worth an estimated $26 million. The liabilities in the bankruptcy are said to be approximately $10 million, including a $3.6 million judgment in favor of McCaw’s employees who had formed a union that their boss never negotiated with in good faith.

A number of those employees are also owed back wages, and it’s the taxes on those wages and the judgment that the Complaint argues provide an avenue to claw back the two buildings.

Wendy McCaw, owner, and Arthur von Weisenberger, co-publisher, of the ‘Santa Barbara
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January 6, 2024 by ATTORNEY

Rudy Giuliani files for bankruptcy following $146 million defamation suit judgment

Former New York City mayor and Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy Thursday, according to a court filing. 

Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy less than a week after a jury ordered him to pay $146 million in damages to Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who sued him for defamation. He estimates his liabilities are between about $100 million and $500 million. The damage award was originally set at $148 million, but the federal judge presiding over the case later reduced it to $145,969,000.

“This maneuver is unsurprising, and it will not succeed in discharging Mr. Giuliani’s debt to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss,” Michael Gottleib, a lawyer for the two women, said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ordered Giuliani to compensate the pair of election workers immediately, expressing concern that he may have been dishonest about his finances and that he might not comply with the judgment.

Giuliani had falsely claimed in the wake of the 2020 presidential election that the election workers engaged in a fake ballot processing scheme. His attorney recently signaled that his pockets weren’t deep

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January 3, 2024 by ATTORNEY

Lights out? Vision Solar files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy

CAMDEN – A Gloucester Township solar-power firm under fire from its customers and regulators has filed to liquidate its assets in bankruptcy.

The move by Vision Solar LLC will likely leave its creditors unhappy, too.

Vision Solar LLC, which uses telemarketers to sell solar panels and installations to a residential market. listed assets of $8 million.

But it has liabilities of $119 million, including $96 million in unsecured claims.

The company said it does not expect to have enough money to satisfy unsecured creditors.

Vision Solar can’t pay its debts or “feasibly address litigation” against it in courts across the country, the company said in a Dec. 28 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court here.

A court filing listed more than 50 legal actions against Vision Solar, with many involving claims of consumer fraud. Suits also allege telemarketing violations, unfair termination of employees and lease disputes.

Among other cases, Vision Solar and a South Jersey telemarketing firm agreed to pay $135,000 in July to resolve allegations of misconduct by the U.S. Justice Department and Arizona’s Attorney General.

Among other claims, a suit filed by the agencies said telemarketers repeatedly violated the Do Not Call registry while trying to sell Solar Vision’s

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January 2, 2024 by ATTORNEY

An Illustrated Guide to Corporate Failure

Traders and lawyers know when a company is about to go under. So should you.

By Jeremy Hill
Illustrations by Cath Kastner

Illustration: Cath Kastner

“Bankruptcy” is a dirty word in boardrooms, on trading floors and in ­employee break rooms. There’s good reason: Insolvency tarnishes reputations, wipes out stockholders and kills jobs. Thankfully, corporate failures are rarely surprising to those who know what to look for. Close observers fully expected the recent bankruptcies of coworking giant WeWork Inc. and pharmacy chain Rite Aid Corp. Almost 200 companies with debts of at least $50 million declared bankruptcy this year—the most since the global financial crisis, except for 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The wave shows no signs of ebbing as high interest rates weigh down corporate balance sheets. So how do you know if a company is about to go under? Read on.

Stock, bond and loan prices are the quickest way to spot a troubled company. When brokers offer floating-rate loans for less than 80¢ on the dollar, there’s little doubt the borrower is struggling. That price means lenders don’t expect the debt to be repaid in full. Almost a year before Rite Aid

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December 29, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Father of Highland Park massacre suspect files for bankruptcy

The father of the Highland Park massacre suspect has filed for bankruptcy as he faces mounting legal costs related to the 2022 Fourth of July parade shooting.

Robert Crimo Jr. owes more than $1.6 million to more than 50 creditors, according to his October filing in federal bankruptcy court.

That total does not include the potential damages he could face in a dozen pending civil lawsuits from parade shooting victims and their families. A bank has already foreclosed on his Highland Park property.

Prosecutors say his son, Robert Crimo III, fired an assault rifle from a rooftop on July 4, 2022, killing seven people and wounding 48 more.

Crimo Jr.’s income has dried up, and he reported just over $200 in his bank accounts. He reported making $6,793 in 2023, far less than the $70,400 he reported in 2022, and $72,678 in 2021. He recently worked for three months at a Goodwill in Milwaukee, according to the filing.

His debts include a $2,800 unpaid dental bill, more than $2,600 in unpaid tickets in Chicago, thousands in unpaid utility bills and an unpaid car loan.

The largest chunk of debt is corporate loans totaling more than $1.4 million. Crimo Jr. once

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December 28, 2023 by ATTORNEY
May 2024
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