Chapter 11 Announced - Part 4 Revised Plan

[ThenNow]

18 minutes ago, CynicalScouter said:

That should provide more than enough fodder for the insurance companies to grind the entire proceeding to a halt until the forged claims can be removed or vetted.

Yup. That was included in my “Act your age...” and reflect the (supposed) dignity of your profession sigh of, “Good grief!” 

[Eagle1993]

Looking at BSA's financials, I question why they said they would be out of cash by the end of this Month (or perhaps September).

At the end of December 2020, they had $52.5M in unrestricted cash and $175M total unrestricted liquidity balance.

At the end of June 2021, they have $72.5M in unrestricted cash and $175M total unrestricted liquidity balance.

Even their restricted accounts have grown.  It appears BSA can last, at least financially, in bankruptcy for much longer than they previously stated. 

[ThenNow]

14 minutes ago, Eagle1993 said:

Looking at BSA's financials, I question why they said they would be out of cash by the end of this Month (or perhaps September).

At the end of December 2020, they had $52.5M in unrestricted cash and $175M total unrestricted liquidity balance.

At the end of June 2021, they have $72.5M in unrestricted cash and $175M total unrestricted liquidity balance.

Even their restricted accounts have grown.  It appears BSA can last, at least financially, in bankruptcy for much longer than they previously stated. 

Good points. I don’t know about such things, but it’s been suggested that the August’ish goal was more based on getting out and “clean” by registration season. That made/makes tons of sense to me. Love to hear expert opinions. 

[CynicalScouter]

1 hour ago, Eagle1993 said:

Looking at BSA's financials, I question why they said they would be out of cash by the end of this Month (or perhaps September).

At least some of this liquidity is based on shifting: taking money directly out of the endowment which, while technical legal, is a bad practice to be in. There are also indications that some "restricted" funds were raided in order to make ends meet; something akin to forced loans. I know some councils have raided their OAs in order to keep things going.

The other possibility is they guessed wrong about how bad 2021 would be in terms of enrollment and such and are getting in more cash than they expected.

Edited August 10, 2021 by CynicalScouter

[CynicalScouter]

Notice of Agenda now up.

https://casedocs.omniagentsolutions.com/cmsvol2/pub_47373/a3e7f93a-362f-4c26-ad4a-1eff50f7f9ab_5937.pdf

1. RSA

2. Motions related to documents filed for/against the RSA (under seal, over page limits, etc.)

[Life]

The calm before the storm. 

[CynicalScouter]

11 hours ago, CynicalScouter said:

That should provide more than enough fodder for the insurance companies to grind the entire proceeding to a halt until the forged claims can be removed or vetted.

As expected: Kosnoff's sworn/verified statement that at least one law firm misused (forged?) his name to proofs of claim is now being used by the insurance companies to demand ALL claims be vetted immediately.

https://casedocs.omniagentsolutions.com/cmsvol2/pub_47373/3a991e50-818a-4fba-8cbb-06e7086c4f0a_5954.pdf

TLDR:  Kosnoff just handed the insurance companies not only grounds to force ALL claimants to be vetted NOW but also for the entire process to grind to a halt until it can be determined how many of the 82,500 claims are time barred and possible civil/criminal actions for forgery and fraud on the court.

Quote

The explosive Verified Statement of Kosnoff Law, PLLC Pursuant to Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 2019 [D.I. 5919; D.I. 5924] (“Kosnoff Law Verified Statement”), filed yesterday, confirms Hartford’s suspicions of fraudulent proofs of claims. Further discovery into the bona fides of the abuse claims is warranted to try to make sure that this proceeding is not dictated by the voting block of illegitimate claims. Hartford has copied the United States Trustee’s Office on this letter.

and

Quote

Mr. Kosnoff’s Verified Statement discloses more than just the recruitment of legally invalid claims. It discloses fraud (albeit fraud committed by others). According to Mr. Kosnoff, an unnamed firm “digitally signed his name to dozens [of] proofs of claim, without Mr. Kosnoff’s knowledge or permission.” Kosnoff Law Verified Statement ¶ 17.

and also they are using the Kosnoff Rule 2019 to affirm that NOT all claimants should get a vote because their claims are timed-barred.

Quote

We now know there are proofs of claim tainted by fraud, though we do not know how many. Still, this issue cannot be ignored, especially in light of the unprecedented explosion of  claims. Given Mr. Kosnoff’s admission that claims are likely time-barred (a point that a number  of RSA objections have made) and others have been fraudulently filed, it may not be appropriate  to afford each an equal $1.00 vote with respect to any proposed plan, as Debtors assume will be  the case.

and the insurers point out that a LOT of other abuse victims and their attorneys are now demanding that time-barred claimants should NOT get a vote here.

Quote

Indeed, some counsel for claimants have raised this very point. See Claimants’ Supplemental Objection to the Debtors’ Motion for Entry of an Order, Pursuant to Section 363(b) and 105(a) of the Bankruptcy Code, (I) Authorizing the Debtors to Enter Into and Perform Under the Restructuring Support Agreement, and (II) Granting Related Relief [D.I. 5916], ¶¶ 9-16. The parties and the Court should have confidence that plan confirmation is not controlled by the votes of claimants with illegitimate claims.

 

The only question now is

1) Will Silverstein see it the same way

2) Will the U.S. Trustee's Office see it that way (remember as an arm of the DOJ the Trustee's tasked with ensuring no fraud takes place in the bankruptcy process as witnessed recently when the U.S. Trustee's Office stepped in to oppose the NRA bankruptcy).

Edited August 11, 2021 by CynicalScouter

[acema606]

I'm guessing the meter will still be ticking as far as BSA burning through money on legal fees while all this unfolds?  Perhaps they will run out of money before this is all said and done.   That wouldn't make Mr. Kosnoff unhappy one bit if they have to convert to Chap. 7 and go under.  

[CynicalScouter]

14 minutes ago, CynicalScouter said:

TLDR:  Kosnoff just handed the insurance companies not only grounds to force ALL claimants to be vetted NOW but also for the entire process to grind to a halt until it can be determined how many of the 82,500 claims are time barred and possible civil/criminal actions for forgery and fraud on the court.

One possibility is that Kosnoff will try and simply scuttle this entire BSA bankruptcy in order to get what he wants: the liquidation of BSA and all the LCs. And one way to do that would be to allege an unnamed law firm put his name on proofs of claim without his knowledge.

I'm not saying Kosnoff's lying here about that happening. What I am saying is that if he wanted to hinder the BSA bankruptcy, this is a great way to do it.

A few weeks ago Kosnoff outright BEGGED Chubb/Century's attorney to get Kosnoff in for a deposition. This is why: he's going to stick knives in the back of anyone and everyone involved in this, get the BSA bankruptcy nuked, and force all of this into liquidation and/or a failed bankruptcy and then 1000s of lawsuits in state courts.

Edited August 11, 2021 by CynicalScouter

[CynicalScouter]

13 minutes ago, acema606 said:

I'm guessing the meter will still be ticking as far as BSA burning through money on legal fees while all this unfolds?  Perhaps they will run out of money before this is all said and done.   That wouldn't make Mr. Kosnoff unhappy one bit if they have to convert to Chap. 7 and go under.  

Sorta? Kosnoff wants two things a) BSA dead and b) lots of money for his clients. Which takes precedence depends I think on his mood.

The longer this takes, the less BSA cash there is to take. A dead BSA of course has $0. For him, the big prize is the local councils: he's want that and said that since the start he wants that $4-$7 billion in assets.

Etc.

[skeptic]

Any doubters now abou Mr. Kosnoff being a crook?  It was obvious from day one to me that he is not a standup person, but only greedy and for whatever reason wants to ruin BSA.  Maybe he did not catch a snipe long ago, or found out that smoke shifters are only jokes.

[MYCVAStory]

9 minutes ago, CynicalScouter said:

For him, the big prize is the local councils: he's want that and said that since the start he wants that $4-$7 billion in assets.

I really don't care what his motivation is.  Just remember, while LC assets might appear attractive to some the prospect of hundreds of LC bankruptcy proceedings, those expenses and decreased available compensation for victims, shouldn't be.

[CynicalScouter]

2 minutes ago, skeptic said:

Any doubters now abou Mr. Kosnoff being a crook?

There's also the possibility both of the statements are true:

1. Kosnoff wants BSA dead and/or liquidated and will use any means to achieve it
2. The mass-tort/mass aggregator law firms were more focused on number of claims that any kind of due diligence and a) allowed in false claims and/or b) forged/misused Kosnoff's signature to that end

If both statements are true, then all Kosnoff's doing is (justly) sticking the knives in the back of those who deserve it.

Now, I would wonder WHY if he knew for MONTHS his name had been misused on some proofs of claim he kept his yap shut (attorney-client privilege doesn't apply to fraud on the court) and didn't notify the court. But now he's on record/under penalty of perjury saying at least SOME claims are fraudulent and/or forged signatures.

The insurance companies ALREADY had forensic proof from handwriting and other examiners that some of these proofs of claim were questionable (at best). Now Kosnoff's confirmed it.

I say this as someone who truly feels for the victims here AND wants to see BSA survive, but if an officer of the court, under oath/penalty of perjury says "my signature was forged on proofs of claim" isn't enough to stop the proceedings and have the matter reviewed, I don't know WHAT would.

 

[Eagle1993]

I’m guessing the judge is going to be mighty ticked.  She wants this over and I don’t see how this issue is now ignored until a later date.  Now she has to deal with possible fraud?

I tend to agree with the law firms who state the claims must be reviewed first before the vote.  You cannot let clear false or time barred claims vote in favor of a deal that the majority of other legal claims want rejected.  
 

I’m starting to think that BSA won’t emerge until 2022…

[CynicalScouter]

10 hours ago, CynicalScouter said:

A few weeks ago Kosnoff outright BEGGED Chubb/Century's attorney to get Kosnoff in for a deposition.

And he continues to do so.