Full text
IN THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
IN RE: PANTHERA ENTERPRISES, LLC
Case No.: 19-00787
Debtor.
Chapter 7
TRUSTEE’S STATUS REPORT OF JANUARY 5, 2024
Now comes the Trustee, Aaron C. Amore, with a status report on this case as of January
5, 2024.
Gust v. Panthera et al.
The Court previously permitted the modification of the automatic stay to permit Derrick
J. Gust and Emily Gust to pursue legal claims against the Debtor and its related entities for the
purpose of seeking any insurance that may cover the claimed losses of the Gusts. The Trustee
moved to employ himself to represent the Debtor in several litigation matters that arose during
the course of the bankruptcy, including several adversary proceedings and state related cases
filed against the Debtor. Counsel filed his appearance, filing of pleadings and answering of
discovery responses before insurance defense counsel appeared and has performed the majority
of the litigation practice necessary in the case. The pending case is Gust v. Panthera Enterprises,
LLC, f/k/a TenX Group, LLC, Panthera Worldwide, LLC Panthera Training Center, LLC,
Historic Arms Corporation and Wilmer C. Bahr civil action no 20-C-35 pending in the Circuit
Court of Hardy County, West Virginia.
This matter has recently resolved, with dismissal orders circulated which are now final.
Counsel for the Trustee will be filing a fee application for his time expended in this matter.
Counsel for the Trustee litigated this matter until such time as insurance defense counsel
appeared and took on the litigation role for the Panthera entities.
Sheriff of Hardy County v. Panthera Training Center, LLC and Panthera Training, LLC
The Sheriff of Hardy County filed a civil complaint against Panthera Training Center,
LLC and Panthera Training, LLC seeking to collect fort back taxes owned on personal property.
The personal property at issue was the same property that was the subject of a sale to SMI, LLC
and also the same property that was leased to Pantherea Training, LLC. At issue was the back
taxes owed which prevented Panthera Training from paying on the tax years due when it was in
possession of the property.
No. 2:19-bk-00787 Doc 428 Filed 01/05/24 Entered 01/05/24 15:18:31 Page 1 of 4
The Trustee prepared and filed amended property returns for the years in which the
returns were due during the pendency of the bankruptcy case which adjusted the amounts owed
accordingly and permitted the Sheriff to receive payment from Panthera Training, LLC. The
issues revolving around this litigation are nearly resolved with an expected final resolution in the
next 30 to 60 days.
Status of case
Panthera Training, LLC has not made its payments on the note due to other financial
constraints arising from its agreement with WVEDA involving payments on the secured debt
that was the subject of the motion to sell. The Trustee is aware that Panthera Training, LLC is
exploring options to resolve the note along with other related business activities and is directly
pursuing these options. The value of the unsecured note is nominal outside of a sale of the
facility and payment of the obligation. The Trustee is informed that negotiations are on-going
with several interested parties.
Jack Lantzy is owed $1,364.84 for the 2022 tax returns and estimates for the 2023 returns
should be the same or a bit less due to the lack of income during this last tax year.
The Trustee has funds on hand of $13,634.67.
Future expenses/costs
The Trustee does not expect significant expenses or costs by way of keeping the estate
open. The estate will have additional tax return(s) but these returns will not be complicated and
will simply reflect funds in and out with no additional tax liability incurred. The Trustee
anticipates he will have nominal administrative expenses moving forward.
Respectfully submitted
Aaron C. Amore, Trustee
/s/ Aaron C. Amore
Aaron C. Amore WVSB #6455
Chapter 7 Trustee
206 West Liberty Street
P.O. Box 386
Charles Town, WV 25414
304-885-4111
aaron@amorelaw.com
No. 2:19-bk-00787 Doc 428 Filed 01/05/24 Entered 01/05/24 15:18:31 Page 2 of 4
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, Aaron C. Amore hereby certify that on this 5th day of January 2024, the foregoing
TRUSTEE’S REPORT OF January 5, 2024 was served through the Court’s ECF system on all
parties registered to receive CM/ECF notices, by U.S. Mail and/or email, including:
Via Email:
Kelly T. Smith ksmith@sek.com
Jack Lantzy jlantzy@sek.com
Mark A. Lindsay mlindsay@bernsteinlaw.com
Rob Duncan tarpon777@yahoo.com
Rob Duncan as manager of TR&L tkelsey@woodsrogers.com
Bruce & Stacie Hardy bsrhardy@comcast.net
Henry Swergold hswergold@platzerlaw.com
CM/ECF
• Debra Lee Allen dallen@spilmanlaw.com
• Aaron C. Amore aaron@amorelaw.com,
jackie@amorelaw.com;c.ar70274@notify.bestcase.com;alaina@amorelaw.com
• Aaron C. Amore amorewvt@gmail.com,
aca@trustesolutions.net;jackiewvt@gmail.com;annwvt@gmail.com
• Robert S. Bernstein rbernstein@bernsteinlaw.com,
cwirick@bernsteinlaw.com;cwirick@ecf.courtdrive.com;rbernstein@ecf.courtd
rive.com
• Elizabeth B. Carroll elizabeth_carroll@vawb.uscourts.gov
• Julia A. Chincheck jchincheck@bowlesrice.com
• Spencer D. Elliott selliott@lgcr.com
• Douglas Kahle dkahle@basnightkinser.com
• Gary O. Kinder gary.o.kinder@usdoj.gov
• Travis Alan Knobbe tknobbe@spilmanlaw.com,
dambrose@spilmanlaw.com
• Sabrina B. Lee sabrina_lee@vawb.uscourts.gov
• William J. Leon jayleon@comcast.net
• Salene Rae Mazur Kraemer skraemer@bernsteinlaw.com,
salene@ecf.courtdrive.com,
• Michael R. Proctor mproctor@bowlesrice.com, lcrown@bowlesrice.com
• Brandy M. Rapp brapp@wtplaw.com, twhitt@wtplaw.com
No. 2:19-bk-00787 Doc 428 Filed 01/05/24 Entered 01/05/24 15:18:31 Page 3 of 4
• John J. Richardson jrichardson@bernsteinlaw.com
• Zachary James Rosencrance zrosencrance@bowlesrice.com,
ajones@bowlesrice.com
• Robert Sellards rms@bcyon.com
• James E. Smith jes2esq@frontiernet.net
• Anita M. Swaton Anita_Swaton@wvnb.uscourts.gov
• Steven L. Thomas sthomas@kaycasto.com,
lwalker@kaycasto.com;abrewster@kaycasto.com;nball@kaycasto.com
• Stephen L. Thompson sthompson@barth-thompson.com, office@barth-
thompson.com;chris@barth-thompson.com
• United States Trustee ustpregion04.ct.ecf@usdoj.gov
• Eric Michael Wilson eric.m.wilson@wv.gov, lora.l.rutledge@wv.gov
Manual Notice List
Notice was not mailed to the parties below as no addresses were provided. To the extent the
Trustee has email addresses the below notice parties, they were emailed.
Rob Duncan
Manager/Duncan Development Group, LLC
Rob Duncan
Manager/TR&L, LLC,
a Virginia Limited Liability Company
Successor to SMI, LLC,
a Virginia Limited Liability Company
Bruce Hardy
Stacie Hardy
Anthony McIntyre
Timothy Miller
/s/ Aaron C. Amore
Aaron C. Amore, Esq.
No. 2:19-bk-00787 Doc 428 Filed 01/05/24 Entered 01/05/24 15:18:31 Page 4 of 4