18 B 14064, 18 A 00252
Plaintiff Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company (the “Bank”) filed an adversary complaint against John T. McMahan (the “Debtor”), seeking a denial of the Debtor’s discharge pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 727(a)(2)(A). The Bank argued that the Debtor was not entitled to a discharge because in the year prior to the filing of his chapter 7 bankruptcy case he engaged in a scheme involving three bank accounts over which he had sole control to transfer and/or conceal large sums of month with the intent to hinder, delay, and defraud the Bank. A trial on the Bank’s complaint ultimately took place without the Debtor present, effectively making the Court’s decision a default judgment. However, the Court and the Bank provided the Debtor with every reasonable opportunity to appear, participate, and defend himself. After conducting the trial at which the Bank presented an offer of proof on its evidence, the Court found, given all of the relevant documentary evidence, the parties’ arguments, and case law, that the Debtor made all of the transfers at issue in violation of various citations to discover assets issued by the Bank, as well as a wage deduction/turnover order entered by the state court, with the intent to hinder, delay, and defraud the Bank. As such, the Court concluded that the Debtor was not entitled to a discharge under § 727(a)(2)(A).