The far reaching implications of Bello's Bankruptcy...

Thought some of the attorneys would appreciate this one. I hadn’t heard much about this bankruptcy until the Napa Velly Register published some of the details recently - WOW!

The captain obvious award goes to…

“The mistake he made was writing checks from the account” to pay outside bills instead of writing checks to his personal account from the WallDesign account and then writing a check from the personal account to pay people such as Abreu and Pott, Fallon said.

Life styles of the rich and famous - Mr. & Mrs. Bello’s appeared on the reality TV show OC Housewives. Good looking family. Crappy business man. Does he still live in that house and have the vineyards?

Starting to see their wines being blown out locally and nationally -are they any good?

I am in construction as well in Southern California and the recession was a tough one for all involved, had to really tighten the belt and then tighten it some more. Apparently his belt could not be tightened.

Interesting lawyer. Is this really legal? The people providing service had no idea this money was claimed. They provided a service and were paid. I understand creditors were ticked - as it was their money and assume this is like stolen property where ignorance is no excuse. Weird situation. Hope all that were screwed over get made whole.

The wines are worth buying at blowout prices. Aaron Pott wines for half price! The Syrah is especially good.

Welcome to clawback and BK law…

It would appear that Mr. Bello committed bankruptcy fraud by not disclosing the secret account. It is not unusual in bankruptcy situations for the bankrupt entity to make claims that parties paid shortly before the bankruptcy filing received “preferential distributions,” which they should then repay. I.e. you can’t pay the bills from your friends just before you file for bankruptcy and then leave everybody else holding a empty purse. Actually collecting money from recipients of those preferential distributions is difficult, however.

And, yes, in any bankruptcy situation, the lawyers will get most of the cash. In the name of being fair, everybody gets their day in court and the bankrupt entity has to pay for all of the representation.

I thought that was only for “earned interest” not wages paid. Isn’t this like going after the money Madoff paid to the lady that cleaned his office?

picked some 07 bello cab up from flemington central in NJ for under $70/bottle.

Within a short enough window, any funds can be clawed back potentially. And yes, the lawyers make a killing.

Great people…great wine shop

Both cooperages I represent have been hit by lawsuits. In one case they are suing over $5500 worth of barrels sold in 2007. I really think their original idea was that we would settle rather than pay legal costs.

That’s what many folks did.

Within a short enough window, any funds can be clawed back potentially. And yes, the lawyers make a killing.[/quote]

The first statement is not accurate. The second is sometimes accurate.

I fixed the quote.

Certainly from witnessing the Madoff liquidation firsthand, the second is always accurate. As to the first, perhaps it varies with securities versus physical goods. (You will notice that I interjected the word POTENTIALLY which I thought would have some meaning for a lawyer.)

I take it that you are a bankruptcy lawyer? http://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com/attorney/sean-d-malloy

Wine Library has had offer after offer over the last year.

Doesn’t seem correct according to the article, which references people settling rather than paying to defend the money they received for services rendered. Extortion is the correct name for this type of behavior; these scumbag lawyers should lose their licenses for going after small businesses and working people for this type of thing.

Wow - I have a different take on this, which given my personality and reputation, probably does not surprise a lot of people.

I knew nothing about this bankruptcy before reading the article this morning. Nothing about any of it. My thoughts - in the order they came to me:

  1. Invasion of privacy. What Abreu or Pott makes or made should be a private affair. This is not my business, but is in front of my eyes.

  2. I hope most people do not think all of us in Napa Valley are living this life style (of the Bello type). I can assure you, I am not.

  3. Why the indictment of lawyers? Lawyers are an important part of our wine community. Arguing about whether or not some lawyers are making money over this sad state of affairs should be specific, not general. If you don’t need a lawyer, then you won’t go broke paying for one.

  4. No one is safe. Some folks might remember I was quite outspoken about selling 3 of my 100 cases of wine to Oakville Grocery, who sold the wine and took the profits, and went bankrupt. The new buyer purchased the assets, but not the debt. Everything looks great, until is isn’t.

Merrill,
I agree with you re lawyers. We wouldn’t want to live where there is no legal recourse.

Bankruptcy law is entertaining. If you sell your grapes to a winery that goes under, you have a grower’s lien. If you sell your wine to somebody who goes under, take a number.


I have been in cases where some people got paid preferentially and they had to ‘share’.
This is the first bankruptcy cases I have had to deal with for 20+ years. And the weirdest.

Non-bankruptcy question but curious - the Bello’s were featured on the Real Housewives as both good friends and the makers of one of the RH lady’s branded sparkling wine. A friend asked how such a deal would be structured - if a vineyard is bolltling a wine for a celebrity’s mass market brand, does the celeb pay the winemaker or does the celeb get a licensing fee for use of their name?

Every deal is different, but would you a pay a ‘star’ of OCRH a licensing fee??