Jackson Jambalaya

For a collection of all posts on Evans case, see sidebar at right side of page. Synopsis of case is provided at the bottom of this post.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court removed the Evans case from the Madison County Chancery Court to its own jurisdiction December 2, 2009. The lawsuit was filed by Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company and Old Republic Insurance Company against Jon Chris Evans, his brother Charles Evans, Jr., and numerous LLC's owned by Chris Evans. Chris Evans filed a petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on October 26, 2009, the day before a hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction against the Evans brothers was to be held in Madison County Chancery Court. The state court proceedings against Chris Evans were halted as U.S. Bankruptcy law stays most civil court actions once a bankruptcy petition is filed. The hearing continued against Charles Evans, Jr. and Mississippi Valley Title obtained the injunction. Copy of removal

The bankruptcy court is probably better suited to hear this case. There were multiple lawsuits filed in state court against Chris Evans or one of the companies owned by Chris or Charles Evans. Considering many banks will have competing claims on the same property and may have interests that are adverse to Mississippi Valley Title's, the bankruptcy court is in a better position to ensure all parties' interests are adequately represented in comparison to the Chancery Court where the authority of the Chancellor is somewhat limited.

Several banks and the Mississippi Bar also entered notice of appearance in the bankruptcy proceeding as well. James R. Clark notified the Court he represents the Mississippi Bar and requested the Court send regular updates to his office. Copy of notice First Bank and Wachovia also entered notices of appearance as well. Merchants and Farmers filed a request that Mississippi Valley Title be forced to produce to M&F all information obtained in the Rule 2004 examination of Chris Evans' estate. A 2004 exam is a thorough audit by a creditor of a debtor's estate. The information obtained in a 2004 audit can be very valuable in a case where massive fraud is alleged and the parties such as the banks and insurance company may have competing interests. While all the banks are conducting their own exams, Merchants & Farmer's is the first to ask that Mississippi Valley Title provide all the information from its exam. Copy of motion

The Mississippi Business Journal published a very good story in its current issue on how the fraud in the deeds and land descriptions occurred. Amy McCullough reports:
"Public records show that Chris Evans’ company Old Agency Business Park Inc. purchased a property of approximately 38 acres on Highland Colony Parkway in Madison in 2003. Chris Evans had a local surveyor write legal descriptions dividing the 38 acres into 10 separate tracts. Through various limited liability companies he owned, Chris Evans obtained commercial loans from Mississippi banks on each of the 10 smaller parcels. The title for the land, however, remained vested in Old Agency and was never conveyed to any of the other entities through which loans were obtained. This particular property has more than 25 mortgages recorded against it, which are held by entities not owning title to the land."
Article

This is a very good example of how the "alleged" fraud took place. In addition to not conveying title to the companies borrowing money, more fraud took place in the issuance of plat maps for some tracts of land. Multiple plat maps were drafted for the same property in some cases. Unfortunately for the banks, the plat maps were completely different and when combined, all of the parcels completely overlapped each other, making it nearly impossible to obtain clear title to the land. Such tricks are why Judge Olack said it will probably be easier to sell the parent tracts and then divide up the proceeds among the creditors.

There is actually a humorous note of sort in this case. The Evans Brothers actually have a defender. Frank Boatman of Ridgeland tries to imitate a soccer parent and wonders why everyone is picking on his little boys in a letter to the Mississippi Business Journal. Mr. Boatman opined:

"Editor,
I am not sure why the Mississippi Business Journal keeps picking on Charles and Chris Evans.
The liberal media loves to find small business owners around the country and put them in tough situations just so you can exploit them for your own gains.
Conservative America understands what is going on and movements like the Tea Parties around the country are showing how we can take our country back.
The Mississippi Business Journal should be ashamed.
Frank Boatner
Ridgeland"

Stay tuned.

Synopsis of Evans case (This feature will be included with future posts on Evans case): Charles Evans, Jr. was an attorney approved by Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company to provide title certificates to MVT and lenders showing a borrower had clear title to property. MVT filed a lawsuit in September accusing his brother of using over 30 LLC's to obtain fraudulent loans from over 30 banks in Mississippi. Chris Evans would allegedly use one company to purchase a large tract of prime commercial real estate in Madison and Desoto Counties. Another company owned by Evans would obtain a commercial real estate mortgage on a smaller section of the tract yet that borrowing company never obtained a deed showing ownership of the land from the other company. Thus the smaller tract was actually non-existed as the larger tract was never actually subdivided. Charles would allegedly provide a title certificate however showing the borrowing company owned the land even though it didn't. Over 80 loans for nearly $50 million were issued by Mississippi banks to companies owned by Chris Evans for lands those companies either did not own. MVT has testified federal authorities are currently investigating the case. Chris Evans filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy on October 26, which stopped the Mississippi Valley Title's lawsuit against him as federal bankruptcy law stays most state civil court proceedings once a bankruptcy petition is filed. Mississippi Valley Title testified 65 title insurance claims for approximately $41 million have been filed by banks affected by the Evans case.