The court-appointed Chapter 7 Trustee in the bankruptcy case involving former radio station licensee Ed Stolz has filed a complaint in a Nevada federal court indicating that the man behind Royce International Broadcasting failed to share that he owns land in Shingle Springs, Calif., and a home in another close-by Sacramento suburb.
This could potentially add $1.84 million to the coffers, further settling debtor claims against Stolz.
On November 14, 2023, Stolz filed a voluntary bankruptcy pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 11 of the U.S. Code in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. He filed an all-important Schedule A/B listing his home in the Palm Springs, Calif., area, which came only after Fox Rothschild attorneys representing debtors charged Stolz with a lack of transparency regarding his ownership of the domicile.
Efforts to mask his ownership of that home led a Nevada Bankruptcy Court, which assumed the role of proper venue at the start of 2024, in March to convert the Chapter 13 case to Chapter 7 — a forced liquidation of all assets to settle debtor claims.
It turns out that Stolz owns more property than just the Toscana Way home in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
A home at 3369 Patterson Way in El Dorado Hills, Calif., was omitted from the Schedule A/B listing, and it is estimated to be valued at $1.19 million. Then, there is the plot of undeveloped land, and this is estimated to be valued at $650,000.
There’s more: At an unknown date, Stolz established the “Newport Bayshore Revocable Family Trust.”
Why? As Fox Rothschild explained, it is their contention that “upon information and belief, the Debtor established the Newport Trust to hide assets from his bankruptcy estate.”
Meanwhile, on January 23, 2024, Stolz executed a grant deed — minus any bankruptcy court approval — purporting to transfer the Toscana Way property to Kevin Vicente
Odenbaugh and Andres Vicente Odenbaugh as trustees of “The Kevin Vincente Odenbaugh and Andres Vicente Odenbaugh Living Trust.” Stolz received a Cashier’s Check valued at $498,305.58 from that transfer of control.
Other questionable cash transfers were cited by Fox Rothschild attorneys in the filing, with that $498,305.58 payment placed in a Dominic Rose Trust and then into a new savings account with JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., in his role as trustee for the Newport
Trust.
That activity happened in January, one month before pre-petition receiver Larry Patrick filed an Emergency Motion to convert the case to Chapter 7, which was granted.
Fast-forward to April 22, when Judge August Landis granted a motion compelling Stolz to turn over any and all proceeds from the real estate deal he engineered, handing it to the trustee, Shelley Krohn. Nothing transpired, as Stolz never appeared at a 341(a) meeting of creditors, a key component of Landis’ order.
To date, the properties not shown in the Schedule A/B remain absent from court documentation.
Now, Krohn wants Landis to force Stolz’s hand, putting the properties in the trustee’s control.
Serving as Krohn’s counsel is attorney Bradley Sims of Las Vegas.
