John Coleman, the president of Express Grain Terminals LLC, has been ordered by a federal judge to appear before creditors during a March 23 meeting.
Coleman, however, plans to refuse to answer questions, his attorney says.
Judge Selene Maddox, who is presiding over Coleman’s bankruptcy case, said during a telephonic hearing Friday that Coleman has a responsibility to participate in the hearing as part of the proceedings.
Coleman has more than $90 million in claims against him, including more than $70 million from UMB Bank of Kansas City, Missouri. The bank recently purchased Express Grain’s manufacturing facility in Greenwood and its grain warehouses in Greenwood, Sidon and Minter City.
A motion was filed asking Maddox to compel Coleman to appear after he missed a meeting of creditors on Tuesday. He also refused to answer questions at a November meeting.
Coleman’s attorney, Craig Geno of Jackson, argued that having Coleman appear at the hearing would be a waste of time because Coleman would invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege — which protects against self-incrimination — with every single question.
In her ruling, Maddox said that Coleman has a right to plead the Fifth, but that not wanting to answer questions is not sufficient for refusing to appear at hearings.
She also denied a motion made by Geno to convert Coleman’s case from a Chapter 11 proceeding to Chapter 7.
Albert Altro, the court-appointed examiner, said the motion to convert has paused his investigation. He had asked for the hearing to be held Friday to determine if his service is necessary.
Geno argued that Coleman’s bankruptcy case is simple with few assets and that a Chapter 7 trustee would accomplish the same goals as Altro without the added cost of the examiner and his counsel.
Maddox explained that she believes Altro’s investigation will respect the need to be cost-efficient while also being comprehensive. She said the investigation is necessary to understand the full scope of Coleman’s assets and to determine if he has disclosed them all.
She also noted the actions of Coleman as being a factor in her decision. The judge referred back to the original reason she denied Coleman’s request to dismiss his case, citing his “bad faith conduct” and his continued refusal to participate in court proceedings is a “big concern” of hers.
She denied the request to convert without prejudice, meaning it could be filed again, and said she’d be willing to consider the request following Altro’s investigation.
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
