Case Doc 45 Filed 04/19/17 Entered 04/19/17 11:03:02 Desc Main Document Page 1 of 7

Transcription

1 Document Page 1 of 7 UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte Division TSI HOLDINGS, LLC, Case No WSC HOLDINGS, LLC, Case No SOUTHPARK PARTNERS, LLC Case No SHARON ROAD PROPERTIES, LLC Case No TRUSTEE S MOTION FOR ORDER DIRECTING JOINT ADMINISTRATION OF RELATED CHAPTER 7 CASES Joseph W. Grier, III, the court-appointed trustee for TSI Holdings, LLC ( TSI ), WSC Holdings, LLC ( WSC ), SouthPark Partners, LLC, ( SPP ) and Sharon Road Properties, LLC ( SRP ) (jointly, the Debtors ) in the above-captioned cases (the Trustee ), hereby moves (the Motion ) the Court for entry of an order, pursuant to section 105(a) of title 11 of the United States Code (the Bankruptcy Code ) and Rule 1015(b) of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy procedure (the Bankruptcy Rules ), authorizing and directing the joint

2 Document Page 2 of 7 administration of the Debtors cases (the Related Cases ) for procedural purposes only. In support of this Motion, the Trustee respectfully state as follows: JURISDICTION 1. This Court has jurisdiction over the Motion under 28 U.S.C. 157 and This is a core proceeding within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. 157(b)(2). Venue of these proceedings and this Motion is proper in this Court under 28 U.S.C The statutory bases for the relief requested herein are section 105(a) of the Bankruptcy Code and Bankruptcy Rule 1015(b). BACKGROUND 3. The TSI bankruptcy case was initiated by an involuntary Petition dated January 27, 2017 (the TSI Case ). On January 30, 2017 the Petitioning Creditors filed an Emergency Relief; Motion for Hearing on Shortened Notice ( Emergency Motion ) (D.E. 5) alleging that Richard C. Siskey ( R. Siskey ) had been the Manager of TSI prior to his death on December 28, 2017, that the Petitioning Creditors have invested in TSI, that evidence existed indicating that R. Siskey participated in fraudulent activity with regard to the assets of TSI, and proposed that an Interim Trustee be appointed in the TSI Case. On February 1, 2017, Diane M. Siskey ( D. Siskey ), widow of R. Siskey, filed a Response (D.E. 12) to the Emergency Motion alleging, among other things, that 80% of life insurance proceeds she had received after the death of R. Siskey, would voluntarily be put in escrow for a minimum of six months to pay creditor s of her husband s estate and that D. Siskey would cooperate with a Trustee. On February 8, 2017 the Court entered its Order Requiring Appointment of Interim Trustee (D.E. 17) appointing

3 Document Page 3 of 7 Joseph W. Grier, III as Interim Trustee in the TSI Case (the Trustee ). The Order for Relief was entered in the TSI Case on March 8, 2017 (D.E. 32). On April 5, 2017, the Trustee filed bankruptcy Schedules and related documents in the TSI Case. 4. The WSC bankruptcy case was initiated by an involuntary Petition dated March 3, 2017 (the WSC Case ). On March 13, 2017 the Petitioning Creditors filed an Emergency Relief; Motion for Hearing on Shortened Notice ( Emergency Motion ) (D.E. 6) alleging that R. Siskey had been the Manager of WSC prior to his death on December 28, 2017, that the Petitioning Creditors has invested in WSC, that evidence existed indicating that R. Siskey participated in fraudulent activity with regard to the assets of WSC, and proposed that an Interim Trustee be appointed in the WSC Case. On March 24, 2017 the Court entered its Order Requiring Appointment of Interim Trustee (D.E. 16) appointing Joseph W. Grier, III as Interim Trustee in the WSC Case (the Trustee ). The Order for Relief was entered in the WSC Case on April 4, 2017 (D.E. 29). On April 17, 2017, the Trustee filed bankruptcy Schedules and related documents in the WSC Case. 5. The SPP bankruptcy case was initiated by an involuntary Petition dated March 3, 2017 (the SPP Case ). On March 13, 2017 the Petitioning Creditors filed an Emergency Relief; Motion for Hearing on Shortened Notice ( Emergency Motion ) (D.E. 7) alleging that R. Siskey had been the Manager of SPP prior to his death on December 28, 2017, that the Petitioning Creditors has invested in SPP, that evidence existed indicating that R. Siskey

4 Document Page 4 of 7 participated in fraudulent activity with regard to the assets of SPP, and proposed that an Interim Trustee be appointed in the SPP Case. On March 24, 2017 the Court entered its Order Requiring Appointment of Interim Trustee (D.E. 16) appointing Joseph W. Grier, III as Interim Trustee in the SPP Case (the Trustee ). The Order for Relief was entered in the WSC Case on April 4, 2017 (D.E 29). On April 17, 2017, the Trustee filed bankruptcy Schedules and related documents in the SPP Case. 6. The SRP bankruptcy case was initiated by an involuntary Petition dated March 9, 2017 (the SRP Case ). On March 13, 2017 the Petitioning Creditors filed an Emergency Relief; Motion for Hearing on Shortened Notice ( Emergency Motion ) (D.E. 7) alleging that R. Siskey had been the Manager of SRP prior to his death on December 28, 2017, that the Petitioning Creditors has invested in SRP, that evidence existed indicating that R. Siskey participated in fraudulent activity with regard to the assets of WSC, and proposed that an Interim Trustee be appointed in the SRP Case. On March 23, 2017 the Court entered its Order Requiring Appointment of Interim Trustee (D.E. 16) appointing Joseph W. Grier, III as Interim Trustee in the SRP Case (the Trustee ). The Order for Relief was entered in the SRP Case on April 4, 2017 (D.E. 24). On April 17, 2017, the Trustee filed bankruptcy Schedules and related documents in the SRP Case. RELIEF REQUESTED 7. By this Motion, the Trustee respectfully requests the entry of an order authorizing and directing the joint administration of the TSI, WSC, SPP and SRP Cases (the Related Cases ) for procedural purposes only.

5 Document Page 5 of 7 8. The Trustee also requests that the caption of the cases be modified to reflect the joint administration of the Related Cases substantially as follows: UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte Division TSI Holdings, LLC, 1 et al., DEBTORS. CASE NO CHAPTER 7 Jointly Administered 1 These jointly administered cases are those of the following debtors: TSI Holdings, LLC, Case No , WSC Holdings, LLC Case No , SouthPark Partners, LLC Case No and Sharon Road Properties, LLC Case No BASIS FOR RELIEF REQUESTED 9. Bankruptcy Rule 1015(b) provides that, if two or more petitions are pending in the same court by or against a debtor and an affiliate, the court may order the joint administration of the estates of a debtor and its affiliates. See Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1015(b). 10. The Trustee represents that joint administration of the Related Cases is warranted because (a) the Debtors financial affairs and business operations are intertwined in that (i) R. Siskey was the Manager of each Debtor prior to his death and the Debtors are affiliates; (ii) upon information and belief, each Debtor has similar claims against the estate of R. Siskey and others, including the life insurance proceeds placed in escrow by D. Siskey; (iii) the Debtors share investors in some instances; and (iv) though still under investigation, all Debtors appear to have been involved in Ponzi scheme activity directed by R. Siskey; (b) joint administration will ease the administrative burden on the Court and the parties; and (c) joint administration consolidates investigative activities and other duties of the Trustee and will streamline such administration.

6 Document Page 6 of The Trustee anticipates that most if not all notices, applications, motions, and other pleadings, hearings and orders in these cases will affect all of the Debtors. With four affiliated debtors, each with its own case docket, the failure to administer the Related Cases jointly would result in numerous duplicative pleadings filed for each issue and served upon separate service lists. Such duplication of substantially identical documents would unnecessarily overburden the Trustee and the Clerk of this Court (the Clerk ) and may otherwise be confusing for the Court, creditors, and other parties in interest. 12. Joint administration will permit the Clerk to use a single docket for the Related Cases and to combine notices to creditors and other parties-in-interest of the Debtors respective estates. Joint administration also will protect parties-in-interest by ensuring that such parties-ininterest in the Related Cases will be apprised of the various matters before the Court in these cases. Further, the Trustee is already communicating with interested parties in the Related Cases through one website accessible through the Trustee s law firm website or at The Trustee requests that the official caption to be used by all parties in all pleadings in the jointly administered cases be in the form set forth above. 14. The rights of the respective creditors of each of the Debtors will not be adversely affected by joint administration of the Related Cases inasmuch as the relief sought is purely procedural and is in no way intended to affect substantive rights, i.e., each creditor and party in interest will maintain whatever rights it has against each of the estates separately. 15. The rights of all creditors and interested parties will be enhanced by the reduction in costs resulting from joint administration.

7 Document Page 7 of The Court also will be relieved of the burden of entering duplicative orders and keeping duplicative files. 17. Lastly, supervision of the administrative aspects of the Related Cases by the Office of the Bankruptcy Administrator will be simplified. WHEREFORE, the Trustee respectfully requests that the Court enter an Order (a) authorizing the joint administration of the Related Cases, (b) the use of the caption proposed herein; and (c) granting such further relief as is just and proper. This is the 19th day of April, GRIER FURR & CRISP, PA /s/ Anna S. Gorman Joseph W. Grier, III (NC State Bar No. 7764) Anna S. Gorman (NC State Bar No ) Michael L. Martinez (N.C. State Bar No ) 101 N. Tryon St., Ste Charlotte, NC Telephone: (704) Facsimile: (704) agorman@grierlaw.com Counsel for the Trustee