- FraudPPA Holdings, LLC and twenty-one (21) related entities (“PPA Holdings”) filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code on June 26, 2009. By Order entered April 6, 2010, Thomas H. Casey was appointed as Chapter 11 Trustee. As Trustee Thomas H. Casey managed and controlled forty apartment buildings in California and Arizona consisting of 1,513 apartment units plus a commercial headquarters in Long Beach, CA. He analyzed the feasibility of the filed, proposed Chapter 11 plan of reorganization and identified the properties that may have value for creditors. He moved to convert the case to Chapter 7 and was appointed Chapter 7 Trustee. Thomas H. Casey operated the properties, negotiated settlement agreements with certain holders of junior trust deeds and marketed and sold certain properties. In 2014, principals of the Debtors, Michael Stewart (“Stewart”) and John Packard (“Packard”) were charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on sixteen (16) counts of mail, bank and bankruptcy fraud. Packard pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. Packard was sentenced to two and a half (2 1/2) years. Stewart proceeded to trial and was convicted of eleven (11) counts of mail fraud in 2015. Stewart was sentenced to fourteen (14) years and is currently serving that sentence. Stewart was ordered to pay 120 victims $9.2 million in restitution. Thomas H. Casey testified as a witness for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
- MurderThomas H. Casey was appointed bankruptcy trustee of the Valley Business Center and La Palma East Partnership in August, 1997. At the time of Mr. Casey’s trustee appointment, one of the partners of the Valley Business Center and La Palma East Partnership, individual James Hood, was serving a sentence in a San Diego penitentiary for murder. While the filed bankruptcy pleadings indicated the real property assets of the Valley Business Center and La Palma East Partnership were over encumbered and had no value for the estate. Mr. Casey sold the two retail shopping centers for the total amount of $5 Million and paid all creditors in full.
- Intellectual Property
- Workers CompensationIn July, 2006, Thomas H. Casey was appointed as Trustee to the case of In re WILLIAM T. HAYS, JR., a workers compensation attorney. The Debtor had scheduled as assets of the estate, his residence and his workers compensation law practice as well as certain accounts receivable. Mr. Casey reconstructed the Debtor’s finances by reviewing the Debtor’s case files, tax returns, business and banking information as well as other financial documents. Mr. Casey marketed and liquidated the Debtor’s residence and collected the receivables from the Debtor’s workers compensation law firm. Mr. Casey also filed a Complaint under 11 U.S.C. §727 against the Debtor for, among other things, failure to keep and preserve records from which the Debtor’s financial condition could be ascertained. After discovery and prior to trial, the Debtor stipulated to waive his bankruptcy discharge.
- Probate
- BankruptcyThe clients of the Casey Firm are diverse and include all parties in bankruptcy cases, including creditors, creditor committees, bankruptcy trustees and defendants in bankruptcy litigation. The Casey Firm has developed an extensive bankruptcy litigation and bankruptcy appellate practice including an expertise in bankruptcy cases involving medical, real estate and family law issues.
- ForeclosureIn the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Anacapa Real Estate Investments, LLC (2:09–bk–34174–VK), the Casey Firm represented the largest creditor, an individual lender whose claim was secured by a Deed of Trust on 56 contiguous acres of unimproved land in Laguna Beach, California. After litigation in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Casey Firm obtained an adequate protection order, an order granting the client relief from stay to foreclose, and the dismissal of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. Our client was then able to continue with the foreclosure process.