Local car dealer Todd Green has wrongly sold a jet partly
owned by failed entrepreneur Jeffrey Parsons, according to a bankruptcy trustee
who is asking for a $250,000 penalty against Green.
One half of the Cessna jet sold in November was owned by a
company controlled by Green and the other half belonged to THR and Associates, a
company owned by Parsons that bought and sold precious metals and other
valuables, typically in shows set up in hotels across the nation, according to
court paperwork filed on Wednesday. Parsons and THR declared bankruptcy in
2012, with both cases still pending before U.S. bankruptcy judge Mary Gorman.
Parsons had bought half of the jet from Green in 2011, using $600,000 in silver coins instead of cash or a check. Green later testified during bankruptcy proceedings that he had paid $565,000 for the entire airplane.
Although Green knew about the pending bankruptcy, he
nonetheless sold the aircraft on Nov. 22 without a lift of an automatic stay
that bars creditors in bankruptcy cases to collect money from debtors under the
jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court, according to Jeffrey Richardson, trustee
in the THR bankruptcy case.
“The transfer of the aforesaid jet airplane which may have
included the unauthorized execution of documents in the debtor’s name
constitutes indirect civil contempt of this court,” Richardson wrote in his
petition filed Wednesday that asks for a $250,000 sanction against Green.
Attorneys for Green could not be reached for comment.
In another bankruptcy related matter, Judge Gorman last week
ordered Parsons, who has also declared personal bankruptcy, to allow an
appraiser access to furniture, antique toys and Abraham Lincoln memorabilia
that was allegedly taken from his Springfield home to his new residence in
Texas last year. Charles Covey, trustee in the personal bankruptcy case, had
accused Parsons of taking the items times to Texas in an effort to hinder,
delay or defraud creditors or the bankruptcy estate.
Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com
This article appears in Feb 13-19, 2014.
