Gayden
Gayden v. Nourbakhsh (In re Nourbakhsh)
Opinion
Lead Opinion
This is an appeal from a decision of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit (“BAP”) affirming the bankruptcy court’s grant of summary judgment to Plaintiffs-Appellees John and Miriam Gayden (the “Gaydens”) on their claim of nondischarge-ability. See 11 U.S.C. § 523 (a)(2)(A). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 158 (d) and affirm.
FACTS
Debtor-Appellant Emil Nourbakhsh (“Nourbakhsh”) and his affiliated corpora *800 tion, The Gold Exchange, solicited the Gay-dens to invest in precious metals. Between 1986 and 1987, the Gaydens placed five orders with Nourbakhsh. Although they paid Nourbakhsh $54,188.71, they received nothing.
In May 1988, the Gaydens filed suit in Florida state court alleging fraud and several other claims against Nourbakhsh. Nour-bakhsh, who claims to have been in dire financial straits, did not defend the action. The Florida state court entered a default judgment against Nourbakhsh in December 1988. The judgment included a specific finding of fraud.
Over eighteen months later, in July 1990, Nourbakhsh filed a Chapter 7 petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California. The Gay-dens filed an adversary…