Cramer v. Palm Avenue Partners, LLC (In re Palm Avenue Partners, LLC)

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Michael G. Williamson, Chief United States Bankruptcy Judge

Tom Leiter induced the Plaintiffs— friends and others familiar with his development experience—to invest $1.1 million in Palm Avenue Partners to develop a high-rise condominium project. But the evidence at trial showed that Leiter failed to disclose to the Plaintiffs that he was using the $1.1 million he raised from them (and another $1.4 million he raised from others) to pay $1 million to a company he owned to serve as a “strawman” in the transaction to acquire the land for the condominium…