THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 12, 1994 TAG: 9406110351
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940612 LENGTH: Medium
They skipped over the value of his golf clubs, his shotgun and his wearing apparel.
{REST} Instead, they concentrated on several other items, including 1,000 shares of Resource Bank stock, the amounts in checking accounts at CENIT Bank and First Union National Bank and the values of a life insurance policy and certain real estate ventures.
Gibson, like others who have filed for personal bankruptcy, had to provide the U.S. Bankruptcy Court with a detailed list of assets, liabilities, monthly income and expenses.
And the creditors' meeting last December became opening day in a search for assets that might yield something for Gibson's unsecured creditors.
His $29.9 million of liabilities did not make Gibson's case the largest personal bankruptcy ever filed in Norfolk. But the array of liabilities provoked questions about Gibson's disposition of assets before he filed his bankruptcy petition last Nov. 10.
According to his bankruptcy filing, two investments account for the bulk of Gibson's assets: an $800,000 stake in a Greensboro, N.C., fitness center and a $400,000 interest in the partnership that owns the Pembroke Square apartments in Virginia Beach. Both have been claimed by Farmers Bank of Windsor as collateral for loans.
In late May, bankruptcy trustee H.B. Price III stepped up his pursuit of more details about Gibson's assets. In late May, he asked the bankruptcy court to compel Gibson to provide additional information about payments made to creditors and gifts to family members.
Just before filing his bankruptcy petition, Gibson ``paid certain creditors so that said creditors would not be listed on his liability schedules,'' Price alleges in the motion.
In addition, ``the debtor made numerous preferential payments to creditors'' within 90 days of filing for bankruptcy, Price contends.
James R. Sheeran, Gibson's bankruptcy attorney, says the information sought by the trustee is already available in documents that his client has supplied. And any payments that Gibson made to creditors before he filed for bankruptcy were made in the ordinary course of business, which is acceptable practice under bankruptcy statutes, Sheeran says.
As for gifts made to family members, these came from Gibson's retirement income and cannot be considered part of estate, he says.
Gibson bristles at charges that his financial statements were less than complete. ``What you see is what you get,'' he declares. ``I don't have any hidden agenda.''
Sheeran attests to the accuracy of his client's reporting. ``In some Chapter 7 bankruptcies of real estate developers, there is a problem is false financial statements,'' he says. ``But Jack has the clearest financial statements I've ever seen.''
The bankruptcy court, says Sheeran, is scheduled to discharge Gibson from his debts in the next few days. The inquiries about his assets, however, are likely to continue.
Bankruptcy trustee Price says he and his attorney are seeking information about Gibson's finances, especially information about his partnership interests. Price declines to predict how long it might take to wind up the case and dispose of remaining assets.
{KEYWORDS} BANKRUPTCY PROFILE
by CNB