Crazy Stories from Bankruptcy Trustees

Attended a TMA social last night.


A few crazy stories from trustees taking over some very difficult bankruptcy situations.  Some of the funnier stories/highlights --

• A trustee appointed to take over an alligator farm in Louisiana.  Unable to pay for meat to keep the gators alive, so the judge allows chickens from a separate case to be used as the gator fodder.  (Needless to say, the judge wasn't a judge for very long thereafter).

• The U.S. government takes over of a brothel (prostitution ring) after attempting to force a drug dealer into submissive compliance and confession - they get him on some measly payroll taxes and force the estate into bankruptcy.  The government, unaware at first of the nature of the businesses they've acquired, continue after finding out for a series of months to run the brothel after realizing just how lucrative the business really is.

• Trustee shows up by court appointment to take over a divorced man's estate.  On the way from the airport, the trustee and the man stop in at the man's psychiatrist and the doctor tells the trustee "he probably won't kill you, but he might try to take you out on his way out."  Apparently the man is high-risk suicide.  Man's dog bites a chunk of flesh out of Trustee's shoulder, requiring them to then go to the hospital to get stitches.  Trustee calls in and asks the appointing attorney for claims/damages, only to find out that he would be in essence suing himself as he's now the appointed trustee of the estate.  Poor guy only made about $7K on the mess as the trustee.

• Another trustee takes over a bankrupt, for-profit hospital only to have the board of directors hand him the keys to the building and basically say "good luck, we're' outa here."  He begins asking around and the rumors start to ignite a mass exodus of doctors and nurses from the hospital - some taking equipment and drugs with them on the way out.  He gets police officers over to bar the doors and he changes the locks.  Asks family members to come get the patients and transfer them to a new hospital - after all, there's no doctors left, and he's down to 3 nurses.  Heaven forbid something go wrong with one of the patients on his watch.  Luckily able to get all the patients transferred to another hospital across town after calling 911.