Since the Brewers have tried to shut up the bloggers they know by name, this blog which is anonymous will continue. This was meant to be a silly blog about silly brothers but things have just become serious. Since the bloggers with names attached have been attacked I have nowhere but my own blog to tell you the following:
Randy W. Williams, a Trustee in the case no. 08-33689-H1-7 Chapter 7, has sent a motion to dismiss the liquidation of SSG to the Bankruptcy Court of Texas.
I’ll summarize as best I can from the document sent to all creditors.
* There are a number of inconsistencies in the filing and a number of practical factors that favor dismissal of this case.
* The Debtor’s legal name is not St Stephen the Great LLC.
* While there do appear to be two separate entities the information provided to the Trustee is that the taxpayer identification number given for the Debtor is the same number for the registered charity.
* The petition states that the Debtor is not for profit entity under the Internal Revenue Code, but the Debtor has no Internal Revenue Service Employee Identification Number.
There is loads more. The bottom line is that St Stephen the Great has been challenged.
Bloggers should remain strong and continue to tell the truth. Oh and they can continue to make fun of the Brewer’s. I certainly will.
2008/07/23 at 5:57 am
Thank you asingleblog. And we will do our best to keep telling the substantiated truth about this. Please keep the information flowing folks.
It looks as if Dave has been forced to remove the post announcing that he is not allowed to post about this!
2008/07/23 at 6:57 am
…and this sure makes for interesting reading! I wonder if USDAW or their affliates have been at work in Texas???
http://www.tklaw.com/attorneys.cfm?action=view&id=4306
2008/07/23 at 8:13 am
Pax – yesterday (22nd) was the date of the court case. Does this have anything to do with the threats to Dave and I believe others (Christian Marketplace have removed a story about the bankruptcy so I guess they have had something as well). Put simply what are the Brewers trying to hide? As soon as I have news about the court case – I will post.
2008/07/23 at 8:17 am
Oh yes – have sent about the threats to Dave to The Bookseller.
2008/07/23 at 6:47 pm
And I will post as soon as I know what has happened with the case to dismiss the Brewer’s liquidation suit.
2008/07/23 at 7:33 pm
Just another snippet of the Trustees Motion to Dismiss. Under “Inconsistencies” No 5 he states:
“While the Debtor operated numerous book shops in England and Wales, it lists not one asset on its schedule A or B, but lists on the petition that the estimated value of assets is in excess of $100.000. Mark Brewer says that he agreed to accept a retainer of $75.000 to act as counsel, even though he is an interested party and insider, but his disclosure of compensation provides that he has been paid nothing. The Statement of Financial Affairs reference millions of dollars of business in the last few years and even hundreds of thousands in the months leading up to the fliling, but again, no assets are listed. And no bank accounts are listed as having been recently closed.”
My copy is not clear enough to scan. If there is anybody out there with a clearer copy please find a way to post it.
2008/07/24 at 7:38 am
Thanks Jim, strangely enough I also looked at that site yesterday. As another Houston lawyer I wondered if Mr Williams knows Mr Brewer personally. He certainly seems well qualified to handle this case.
I was wondering, does anyone know who has brought this action to dismiss against SSG?
2008/07/24 at 8:32 am
[...] AM]Asingleblog – Brewers are challenged in court More detail on the attempt to put SPCK UK into Chapter 11 in the [...]
2008/07/24 at 12:41 pm
[...] AM]Asingleblog – Brewers are challenged in court More detail on the attempt to put SPCK UK into Chapter 11 in the [...]
2008/07/24 at 12:43 pm
asingleblog,
Given the stated inconsistencies listed some people might find the following links to some articles from the Houston Press interesting:
http://www.houstonpress.com/2000-01-06/news/the-insider/
http://www.houstonpress.net/2000-03-23/news/scouting-a-smear/
http://www.americanpolitics.com/20000114Gonzo.html
Also, on the scanning issue, try reversing the polarity of the scan ie do it as a negative image or mess with the brightness/contrast of the scan. Alternatively just scan it as a colour photograph (jpeg format) instead of trying to do it as a word processing file etc. that way someone can play with it in photoshop and probably retrieve/restore the quality for us all.
2008/07/24 at 1:43 pm
I understand that Mark Brewer may be (allegedly !) going to challenge Randy!
I used to think this was all a devious plan….now I just think its utter disrespect and contempt for the law,former staff and suppliers …not to mention incompetence!!
As for Daves treatment….at Lambeth with assorted media…. Brewer couldnt have given the situation better publicty if he’d tried!
2008/07/24 at 5:03 pm
Pax,
I suspect it is Mr Williams who has filed for it himself – these links prove interesting reading! and explain somewhat about the United States Trustee’s Program.
http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/ust_org/about_ustp.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/public_affairs/factsheet/docs/fs05.htm
this one shows Mr Williams listed as being a panel trustee (chapter 7) with the USTP. This is a private trustee and not a goverment employee and private trustees typically administer debtors’ estates, subject to supervision by the United States Trustees in their respective judicial districts.
http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/r07/houston.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/public_affairs/factsheet/docs/fs05.htm
The one that really explains why Mr Williams has done what he has is the Trustee’s Handbook – Chapter 6 – Duties, pretty much all of this chapter.
it makes for interesting reading, very very interesting reading indeed!.
2008/07/24 at 5:36 pm
Bookseller has reported a small snippet on the dismissal:
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/63788-nothing-to-liquidate-at-st-stephen-the-great.html
2008/07/24 at 5:49 pm
Pax,
I believe it is Mr Williams himself who has petitioned for the dismissal – as a USTP appointed Trustee it is part of his brief.
Chapter 6 of the ‘Chapter 7 Trustee’s handbook’ makes for some very interesting and informative reading:
http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/private_trustee/library/chapter07/docs/forms/Ch7hb0702-2005_amended.htm
These links give you more info on the Trustee program etc:
http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/ust_org/about_ustp.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/public_affairs/factsheet/docs/fs05.htm
This all makes for interesting reading.
‘Sometimes its in the details and sometimes its in the blurs…
other times its just a squiggle!’
2008/07/24 at 6:28 pm
squiggle jones, you have taken my breath away. Wtf are we up against!
2008/07/24 at 7:48 pm
squggle jones – thank you so much – but is this good news? If the bankruptcy is dismissed in the US what legal recourse is there for the creditors in the UK?
asingleblog – we knew what we were up against the minute we saw that our esteemed president had ‘warrior’ for his email address.
2008/07/24 at 8:39 pm
[...] AM]Asingleblog – Brewers are challenged in court More detail on the attempt to put SPCK UK into Chapter 11 in the [...]
2008/07/24 at 9:07 pm
Whatever they do to one of us makes us all stronger and more united _-we won’t give up!
As to “warrior” ? Looking at Mr Brewers history on the web…religious,political and business…..seems a bit of a failed “warrior” to me……
2008/07/24 at 9:24 pm
Pax,
If the bankruptcy is dismissed in the US – that means that they are still fully liable for all their debts!!
you might be getting confused between discharged (ie debts wiped out/debtor discharged of liability) and Dismissed (case thrown out/closed down)
So creditors will have the usual recourse to law in this country – ie take them to court, if you go to court and they still don’t pay then the court can issue an enforcement order (ie an order that may allow you to get baillifs involved etc and take goods to the value etc). The problem here is that they may (or may not be) a ltd – check your paperwork as to who your contract was/is actually with!!
The forms and all information on county court claims and small claims track can be found here:
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/index.htm
a bit of a milk sop and not much, but some light perhaps.
The Cure keeps running through my head – yes black eyeliner and all, vaious different songs such as ‘Club America’- the end of the first verse! and ‘This is a Lie’ : This isn’t truth, this isn’t right, this isn’t love, this isn’t life, this isn’t real,
This is a lie’
‘Sometimes its in the details and sometimes its in the blurs…
other times its just a squiggle!’
2008/07/25 at 7:01 pm
[...] the Brewers filing for chapter 11 is well worth it. Ministry of Truth has the (low quality) PDF and A single blog has a summary. The main thrust is remarkably common-sensible for a lawyer, which is that the company, the assets, [...]
2008/07/25 at 7:04 pm
The Cure – now that takes me back… the Head on the Door tour about 1985. The NEC, a cracking two hour set and then they encored with ‘Do you wanna touch me?’ which was weird. Still got the tapes of the gig somewhere in the attic. Their soundtrack ‘Carnage Visors’ is more like an afternoon on the road (in the air) with the Brewer brothers.
Maybe more appropriate for us is (same period) PiL singing ‘Anger is an energy’ on Rise which also features the line ‘the written word is a lie.’
May the road rise with you.
2008/07/25 at 7:58 pm
I don’t know about this music thing. All I can think about now is unpacking a whole lot of CD’s with funny chants.
2008/07/25 at 8:38 pm
I’m sure its an oversight……………but has anyone else heard that some of the few (the very few) who are still remaining havnt been paid this month?
2008/07/25 at 9:39 pm
I hear that some have been paid, after having to make strong representations about it. But the fact that they have received money is not necessarily an indication that their tax or NI has gone to the right place. That also needs checking out.
2008/07/25 at 9:49 pm
Now, what we need is a person smarter than I, is to email the Houston Press (ok the stories were around 8 or 9 years ago but still!) and tell them in a concise summary what’s been going on over here. Would be interesting to get them on the case over in Texas…
2008/07/26 at 12:53 am
Jim, I was just about to suggest the same thing. I’ll take it a step further (or maybe a sidestep further) and suggest that somebody in the UK should do it. I’d take on the task with great gusto, except that I think they’d probably have me pegged pretty quickly as a pinko liberal Democrat from (eeeuwh) Maryland…
2008/07/26 at 1:31 am
I have downloaded the statement of affairs, the debtor’s bankruptcy schedules, the amendments to the schedules, the disclosure of compensation by attorney for the debtor, the trustee’s motion to dismiss (a much clearer copy), and a strange anonymous letter sent to the Court; all from the US court system’s official PACER service.
They make for interesting reading.
2008/07/26 at 5:52 am
Jim, I e-mailed Houston Press. Afraid it might have gone into their spam box because I have a hotmail address.
Pax and Annie, I think the Brewers are playing games with their remaining staff. I’m worried about pension contributions. Those who are affected should check up on this. I read on some other blog that ENC, Durham and Chichester are foreign companies so when the Brewers pull the plug workers and suppliers will not be able to use the Trustee’s argument that SSG are a British based operation.
2008/07/26 at 6:02 am
Rigorist would you be so kind as to post your information somewhere and let us all know where you’ve put it? You have to be a registered user to acquire information from the Pacer service.
2008/07/26 at 9:34 am
Pax Vobiscum,I will be checking first thing Monday morning ,about Tax and NI . Thankyou for reminding me, never would I possibly think that the Chuckle Brothers !! would want the HMRC involved.
2008/07/26 at 12:41 pm
Alert! to all bloggers look at http://www.ministryoftruth.me.uk it is facinating reading.
2008/07/26 at 12:52 pm
I’ve also downloaded some of the documents for this case from the PACER website.
Particularly interesting are two letters querying various matters, one anonymous just from the UK ‘Outragous’ (envelope postmarked Birmingham) and another from USDAW, the shop worker’s union both of which have been sent to the courts.
I also have downloaded a statement of SSG’s 20 creditors and the amounts owning. I am just wondering how and where to post these documents, given that they are obviously in the public domain, but I don’t know what applies with regards copyright,etc.
2008/07/26 at 12:56 pm
Jim:
No copyright issues – court documents are public under US FOIA.
I’ve now got everything but the USDAW letter at MoT
2008/07/26 at 9:48 pm
[...] AM]Asingleblog – Brewers are challenged in court More detail on the attempt to put SPCK UK into Chapter 11 in the [...]
2008/07/28 at 11:27 am
Hi y’all (thought I’d try on a good Texas drawl for a change)… simply to let you know that the SPCK/SSG blog remains open and that the entire document proposing a dismissal of the SSG case is now available for download.
asingleblog: thank you.
2008/07/28 at 5:09 pm
Following on, would be grateful if you could point your readers to this new page — IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ — on the SPCK/SSG Blog. Thank you.
2008/08/02 at 7:27 pm
[...] have to racked up, a bit more on who this family is. MetaCatholic has picked it up and points to ASingleblog which is also providing information and is operating anonymously so they will less likely get to be [...]
2008/08/04 at 10:43 am
[...] AM]Asingleblog – Brewers are challenged in court More detail on the attempt to put SPCK UK into Chapter 11 in the [...]