Wednesday, April 13, 2022, 12:08 pm News Flash Archive

This morning, the bankruptcy court in John Coleman's personal bankruptcy case signed an order awarding UMB Bank $71 million plus court costs and legal fees.

The order also exempts the judgment from discharge by the bankruptcy proceedings, meaning that Mr. Coleman will still owe the $71 million after his bankruptcy case is concluded.

The court's judgment may be seen here: Order entering Judgment of $70,589,128.70 against John Coleman

It reads as follows:

IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that Plaintiff is granted a final Default Judgment against Defendant in the amount of $70,589,128.70 plus post-judgment interest calculated in accordance with 28 U.S.C. Section 1961 from the date of the entry of this final Default Judgment until paid.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that Plaintiff is entitled to attorneys' fees and costs against Defendant incurred in this adversary proceeding, as Plaintiff was required to obtain services of attorneys to bring this action and should be reimbursed reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. In the event Plaintiff seeks recovery of said fees and costs, it must provide this Court with a Statement of Services rendered and said fees and costs will be subject to this Court's approval.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the Court finds and holds that this final Default Judgment against Defendant is entered and the indebtedness due and owing to Plaintiff by Defendant is non-dischargeable .... Any post-judgment interest and attorneys' fees awarded to Plaintiff is also non-dischargeable.

UMB Bank had filed an adversary action against Coleman, charging that its losses in the Express Grain bankruptcy were the result of "actual fraud" by Mr. Coleman. According to the UMB Bank's filing, Coleman employed "false pretenses, false representations of material facts that Debtor [John Coleman] knew to be false at the time the representations were made, and/or actual fraud."

See our previous reporting here: UMB Bank levels new fraud accusations against John Coleman and Express Grain

Interestingly, neither of Mr. Coleman's personal bankruptcy attorneys, Craig Geno and Charles Swayze III, filed any answer or objection to UMB Bank's legal demand.

No doubt, the court will grant an offset against the $71 million judgment to the extent that UMB Bank directly recovers some of its money from the Express Grain bankruptcy proceeding.

It is also unlikely that UMB Bank will receive any substantial portion of this money from Mr. Coleman, as he appears to have few assets that can be used to pay the judgment. But UMB Bank will be able to go after any future earnings that Mr. Coleman might make after his bankruptcy case has been concluded.

 

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To read all our coverage of the Express Grain bankruptcy case, see here: Index of Express Grain articles

 

John Pittman Hey
The Taxpayers Channel

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