Misik
Misik v. D'Arco (In re D'Arco)
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Birotte, J.
Before the Court is Plaintiff Thomas Misik's ("Misik") appeal of the Bankruptcy *725 Court's order judgment in favor of Defendant Thomas D'Arco ("D'Arco") on Misik's claims under 11 U.S.C. §§ 523 (a)(2), (a)(4) and (a)(6) seeking to deny D'Arco a discharge of his debt to Misik.
I. BACKGROUND
This case arises out of Plaintiff Misik's attempts to recover $150,000 that he lent to Martin Ballardo ("Ballardo"), the Sayrahan Group LLC ("Sayrahan"), and Defendant D'Arco in May and June 2007 to develop and sell two properties in Apple Valley CA. Before providing the funds, Misik dealt solely with Ballardo, whom Misik testified he had known from prior dealings. Misik provided the funds in May and June 2007 by two cashier's checks, both made out to D'Arco, as per Ballardo's instructions. In exchange, Ballardo gave Misik post-dated checks drawn on the Sayrahan bank account; promissory notes between Sayrahan payor and Misik payee at 12% interest; and copies of recoded deeds of trust in favor of Misik, establishing the two properties as security. In early 2008, one of Sayrahan's periodic checks to repay Misik did not clear the bank, and Misik did not receive any checks thereafter.