Original Involuntary Bankruptcy
Global Energies was a company shared between partners Joseph Wortley, James Juranitch and Richard Tarrant, according to the opinion. Tarrant held his ownership through Chrispus Venture Capital LLC, of which he owned 93 percent. They formed the company to market a plasma technology developed by Juranitch, the opinion said. In June 2010, Tarrant along with Juranitch, developed a plan to have Chrispus Venture Capital file an involuntary bankruptcy petition against Global Energies and then have Chrispus buy the company’s assets in an auction, according to the appeals court. This plan was described in several emails between Juranitch, Tarrant and Chrispus’ bankruptcy attorney Chad Pugatch, according to the opinion. Chrispus filed the involuntary petition on July 1, 2010.
Collusion Afoot
Wortley, whom did not originally oppose the bankruptcy, soon began to suspect collusion and moved to dismiss the petition as having been filed in bad faith, but at that point he could offer only circumstantial evidence, according to the opinion. Wortley had requested the emails from June, but they had not been handed over, according to the opinion. In addition, Tarrant and Juranitch gave sworn testimony that they did not conspire to have a plan to file an involuntary bankruptcy petition against Global Energies and to have Chrispus purchase Global’s assets.
11th Circuit Court of Appeals Reverses Decision
Read the 11th Circuit Court Opinion
Listen to the the 11th Circuit Court oral arguments (.mp3)*
*NOTE: A technical problem exists from minute 8:57 to 13:21