antfarm

dave_walker

For any ex-"employees" that may still keep up on here...I spoke to trustee Steed this morning about our 1099's. He told me he has a CPA working on them but, for some reason that is beyond me, he doesn't have the business files from The Forex Project and therefore doesn't have our social security numbers and current mailing addresses. He has asked that I pass the word to all that he needs that info in order to process the 1099's.

I would recommend that you check these closely, I get the feeling that if there was a check written to you for whatever, trustee Steed's CPA may count that as wages. Also, remember we were short 4 or 5 weeks pay, some of us more.

Good luck...

Racer

Excellent! More money for us investors. Three cheers for Grey!

Racer

Well in my case I never got a dime of principal or interest back. For others can they only go back 90 days from the bankruptcy filing or can they go back two years?

I don't disagree that recovering money from some people costs more in legal expenses than what would be recovered but in the case of employees, who were really independent contracters, I assume he expects to recover more than $10,950. From everything I have read on this blog it seem that many employees received inflated pay for what they did. Further, didn't the time to make a claim end? If so, how would these people file for what would be taken by Grey?

antfarm

For those of you upset about how the trustee is working, you are not alone! On 02/20/09 the court issued an order asking people to stop writing them letters about the trustee. People have written “asking that the trustee be required to furnish certain financial information regarding the administration of this estate to creditors on a monthly basis. The letters also express certain opinions on how the trustee should administer the estate, including the timing of distributions of monies collected for the benefit of the estate and whether the trustee should pursue certain actions against persons to collect additional monies for the benefit of the estate.” The judge said, “It is the role of the trustee, and not the court, to make those strategic decisions on behalf of the estate. As in every bankruptcy case administered by a trustee, the trustee will eventually file an accounting and report that will be sent to all creditors so that creditors will be able to see the results of the trustee’s efforts in the case. Also, fee applications filed by the trustee and the professionals employed by the trustee are sent to all creditors for review.”

How much has the trustee collected and from who?
If they are supposed to be representing the creditors then why all the secrecy?

Queen

Here is how the trustee may be loosing the estate about $2 million:
Within the 90 days of the bankruptcy Rivas gave out approximately $3.7 million to over 30 investors in interest payments and/or returning their original investments. The trustee is supposed to collect all that back and dole it out evenly to all the creditors. In most cases a trustee will attempt to retrieve the smaller amounts first since they are less likely to put up a big legal battle. In this case the trustee has decided to go for the largest sum first. The lawsuit against Knox Forex Group is for $1.7 million and will be a HUGE legal battle from some very expensive lawyers. If Knox Forex Group wins then the trustee will not be able to go for any of the smaller sums because all their lawyers have to do is point to that one judgment.

Here is how the trustee is trying to look worthy of their hefty fees:
The first time the trustee put out their fee applications (their bill) was the first time they filed any lawsuits to get any money back. The total of how much they are suing for is padded though, with thousands of $$ they know they cannot retrieve (like petty cash used in the offices with receipts to show) and many more thousands of $$ they have already retrieved.
The trustee’s second bill is about to come out so, again, they are trying to pad up their numbers. They are adding $225,000 to the total they are trying to retrieve in the current lawsuits. Sounds great, right? Oops, except they are just adding the $225,000 they are already suing Pam for onto the total they are already suing Angie for. Nope, they can’t collect it twice and if they win it from Angie, whose court date is first, then Pam will be able to keep the house she bought with that money, no house will be sold and the estate will probably never see that money. But hey, the trustee looks good right now so…

Queen

The Forex Project purchased a furniture store that was full of furniture. Plus, I had sent 5 semi trucks full of furniture from the Spartanburg office to that store where it was being held when TFP closed. You can look in the court documents and see every stick of furniture I turned over personally but I do not see ANY of that furniture store stock or those 5 truck loads.

Does anyone know what happened to all that furniture?

Forexgurl

This is only what I heard. It is not what I have seen. I was told that a number of furniture items from those trucks vanished enroute from Spartanburg to Chattanooga where they were to be stored. Among them a large number of flat screen TVs. At one point the trucks were supposedly stopped enroute by a former employee because there was stuff belonging to the individual on the trucks. The furniture was supposedly stored in a warehouse to which only three people had a key. At some point the warehouse was emptied. Whether via break in or one of those three people I do not know. This is from the mouth of one of the three people that had access to the furniture.

Mind you it's all hearsay and I saw none of this happen with my own eyes. Take what you will from it. Grains of salt and all that.

antfarm

Here is the progress report the trustee put out 3/18/09 probably as a result of the judge’s recent response to all the letters he had received complaining about the trustee.

I guess the trustee is worried what creditors will say about their fees because the total they listed here is from what they were paid last October and does not include their last 6 months of fees. It also does not include how much the CPA firm they hired has cost so far or any of the expenses that they have asked for and received over the last 6 months even though they had to get court approval and it’s well documented.

As far as the "Demand letters have been sent to additional parties resulting in tentative agreements which if approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court will net an additional $400,000.00" I happen to know an ex-employee that accounts for $220,000.00 of that so, according to this report, they are not even negotiating with all those people Queen said were holding $2,000,000.00. Apparently they haven't even sent them a letter asking for it.

TRUSTEE'S INTERIM STATUS REPORT

Comes W. Grey Steed, Trustee, by and through counsel, and files this Interim Status Report. The purpose of this Interim Status Report is to detail the status of this Chapter 7 Bankruptcy matter and to detail additional steps remaining to conclude this case. Since the appointment of Chapter 7 Trustee W. Grey Steed on June 6, 2008, net receipts have been received totaling $2,830,121.71. To date, $284,754.00 has been disbursed leaving a balance on hand of $2,545,367.71. These funds are primarily in a certificate of deposit to maximize interest income on these funds. The funds collected have come from a variety of sources, but it is fair to say that the bulk of the funds were recovered from family members and or former employees holding funds in their name belonging to the Rivas investors, bank accounts traced to Rivas and /or The Forex Project, the auction of vehicles, furs, jewelry and/or furniture purchased by Rivas for employees and other small miscellaneous sources.

The disbursements to date are primarily to four categories. These include legal fees and expenses related to litigation ($124,002.00), the fee paid to the Trustee ($43,460.30), repairs to prepare the residence located at 1305 Stonehurst for sale ($37,802.00) and pay off of a lien on one of the auctioned vehicles ($21,895.78). All of the disbursements were necessary to administer the estate and/or to collect funds for the estate. At the present time the Bankruptcy Estate has recovered four additional parcels of real estate for sale. The real estate is currently on the market for approximately $575,000.00 with no liens.

The Bankruptcy Estate has four adversary lawsuits presently filed. These lawsuits seek the return of funds from Angie Jefferson, Pam Green, Joy Krista Terry, and The Knox Forex Group. These lawsuits seek the return of fraudulent conveyances, preference transfers and assets purchased by the Investors’ funds totaling in excess of 2 million dollars. Demand letters have been sent to additional parties resulting in tentative agreements which if approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court will net an additional $400,000.00 for the Bankruptcy Estate. Additional demand letters are being prepared to maximize the return of funds to the Bankruptcy Estate.

In addition to seeking the return of assets for the benefit of creditors, the Bankruptcy Trustee is also responsible for preparing 1099s for the former employees and the tax returns of the Debtor. Since the Trustee has no access to any business records of The Forex Project, this has been a tedious time consuming process. It was necessary for the Trustee to hire a CPA firm to assist in this work and to assist in the preparation of the pending lawsuits that seek additional funds. The CPA firm’s assistance is also critical in resolving any potential tax liability issues which must be accomplished before distribution of the funds collected. This matter is further complicated by Mr. Rivas refusing to cooperate with the Trustee to date while awaiting criminal charges. Although his criminal trial is not a part of the Bankruptcy proceedings, his trial is set for July 2009 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is hoped that once his trial has concluded that Mr. Rivas will choose to assist in this Bankruptcy matter.

To date, 435 claims have been filed in this matter, totaling claims of $33,767.987.59. Before any claims can be paid, the Trustee must review the claims for accuracy. Claims improperly filed or unsupported by documentation must be objected to by the Trustee. Ultimately the Bankruptcy Court Judge will resolve any disputes between the Trustee and the creditor on claims. Although the Trustee is not opposed to making an interim distribution on the claims, this simply cannot be done till the amount of the claims to be paid is resolved. For example, a number of the claims were filed based on the interest payments due on the three-year notes signed with Rivas. The Trustee will object to claims for interest payments after the filing of the Rivas Bankruptcy proceeding, but again it will be up to the Judge to determine if these claims should be allowed or amended.

By filing a claim, the creditors should be receiving notices of matters before the court. Creditors who have not been receiving notices should contact the U.S. Bankruptcy Clerk’s office.

Respectfully submitted,
PATRICK, BEARD, SCHULMAN & JACOWAY, P.C.

Roofer

omg...roflmao!!!