Thursday, December 8, 2011

Judge expands power of trustee overseeing the EpiCentre

A bankruptcy judge Thursday broadened the powers held by the trustee overseeing the EpiCentre entertainment complex in uptown, despite objections by the EpiCentre's developer and owner.

In October, the judge appointed Elaine Rudisill to manage the 302,000-square-foot project at the request of the EpiCentre's lender, Blue Air 2010. Blue Air has accused EpiCentre developers Afshin Ghazi, George Cornelson III and others of wrongfully diverting money from the EpiCentre before filing for bankruptcy protection last year.

Rudisill, managing director of The Finley Group in Charlotte, had been limited to management duties. Now, Rudisill has full control of the project and could sue people if she felt it appropriate, said attorney Dennis O'Dea. As the attorney for the committee of unsecured creditors, O'Dea supports Rudisill's new power.

"Her voice is now very important in this case," he said.

During the hearing, which lasted more than a hour, attorneys for the EpiCentre and its developers told the judge they wanted the trustee to have to tell their clients what she was doing.

Travis Moon, an attorney representing Fulcrum Construction, objected. The general contractor is owed $3.5 million for its work on the project.

Saying that attorneys are investigating allegations of self-dealing and other actions by the principals, Moon said: "If you are saying we have to call if we just found a pot of money that was hidden, we are not going to do that."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a cluster... Meanwhile, Ghazi is still driving his exotic cars and living in his mansion on the lake...

Anonymous said...

And this is after he took everyone's money that invested in the 210 Trade Tower... Beware when the contract allows the developer to use your deposit for construction expenses...

What a crook!

Anonymous said...

To the First Commenter - Not very educated comment, People are aloud to have multiple business deals at once, just because one business deal does not work out...Does not mean their life needs to end....Should you not be able to drive your Gremlin or stay at your double wide, if you get fired from walmart....

To the 2nd poster - duh!! That is what pre construction sales are used for....If you didnt read your contract or do not understand construction financing - then maybe you should not be buying real estate!!

Anonymous said...

the million/billionairs foreclose on million/billion $ deals protected under a string of business filings to shuffle (launder) money to themselves yet a middle class homeowner is kicked out of home and shunned by the world with a crappy credit score affecting their ability to get a job, buy a car/house/anything expensive, and so much more...plus it makes everything cost more for the little guy while he shelters cash to protect his funds all legally thanks to the united corporations and government of america

Anonymous said...

Classic case of borrowering from Peter to pay Paul however in this case, as many, the borrowed money from Peter was laundered into other ventures and accounts while Paul went unpaid. Anybody who claims to want to build a shiny Emerald City at your expense, beware. Some folks never learn.

Phyliss Klagg said...

Why dont they just get it over with and rename it "Cityfair 2". Theres nothing about the Epicentre that isnt shady.. From Ghazi all the way down to those sketchy nightclub operators formerly known as BAR Management Group. No idea what they call themselves now, they change names every 6 months to make it more difficult for people to sue them