Trustee Bonnie C. Mangan Institutes Legal Action Against a Wholesale and Retail Landscape Nursery For Alleged Transfer of Debtor’s Property For Less Than Reasonably Equivalent Value

August 30, 2021, District of Connecticut – Trustee Bonnie C. Mangan for the bankruptcy estate of Debtor Ace Begonias Inc. accuses Defendant Bethany Farm & Nursery, LLC to avoid and recover a transfer made on the eve of the Debtor’s bankruptcy filing, allegedly of all of the Debtor’s assets, its real property, and the improvements thereon for less than reasonably equivalent value.

The complaint initiates an adversary proceeding according to §§ 105, 502(d), 510, 544, 546, 547, 548, 550, and 551 of the Bankruptcy Code, and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7001(1). The Debtor was purportedly under significant financial distress and was unable to pay its obligations. Allegedly, the Debtor identified a buyer and quickly sold his premises and the assets to pay mutual debts owed by the Debtor and its principal before the Debtor’s bankruptcy filing way beyond their actual price. According to the Trustee, the premises and the assets sold to Defendant were worth more than $1Million and the Defendant only paid $600,000 to the Debtor, as the purchase price.

The Trustee seeks an order under §§ 548(a)(1)(B), 550, 551, and the CUFTA for avoidance & recovery of all the alleged transfers or the value thereof for the benefit of the estate of the Debtor. The Trustee also seeks imposition of a constructive trust in favor of the estate over the premises, the assets, and the respective proceeds along with disallowance of any claims held by the Defendant against the Debtor and/or the estate until the Defendant and/or its assignees satisfy the judgment.

The case is In re Ace Begonias, Inc. in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut being administered under Case number 21-03005.

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