Settlement Bankruptcy Continues; Burgess Center for Sale

By JAMES FOSTER

Publisher 

The remains of Germantown Settlement and its affiliated Greater Germantown Housing Development Corporation (GGHDC) are slowly winding their way through Chapter 7 liquidation in federal bankruptcy court after both organizations were denied reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy rules last year.

Two separate trustees have been assigned and attorneys appointed to assist in trying to unravel the financial history of Settlement and GGHDC, including complicated inter-company transactions between the two, prior to the liquidation of their assets. Locating and determining ownership of some of these assets is also a priority.

Germantown resident Irv Ackelsberg, an attorney representing the Germantown Community Connection, has been given standing in the proceedings. His questioning of Settlement head Emanuel Freeman at a March 8 Meeting of Creditors at the U.S. Couthouse, 8th and Market streets brought a series of objections from Freeman’s counsel, Thomas Belli. Ackelsberg insisted that financial details in documents filed with the Court relative to the two corporations were material to the matters at hand and persisted in questioning in more detail in order to gain understanding of the accounting practices and status of the financial assets of these entities.

One large inconsistency was an $800,000 item that was reported as inter-company on one corporation that did not appear on the others records.  Freeman claimed it was an “oversight” and indicated that his “new accountant” would do better.  He named that new accounting firm as Lawton Associates of West Oak Lane. Trustees and attorneys agreed that the matter needed much more time and agreed to set aside a longer period for future discussions.

Earlier this week a trustee-appointed forensic accountant and attorney for the trustee arrived at the Burgess Center former headquarters of Germantown Settlement and collected boxes of records for review and analysis.  Reportedly, Freeman is still operating multiple other corporations from that location.

The Burgess Center itself was scheduled for Sheriff’s Sale on Tuesday, April 5, according to attorney Edward DiDonato of Fox Rothschild, doing investigative work for Terry Dershaw, a  lawyer from Warminster Pa. who is trustee for Germantown Settlement, and Gary Seitz of Rawle & Henderson of Philadelphia, trustee for GGHDC. He said a motion by Freeman to have that sale postponed has been denied by the court. 

Parke Bank appears as the primary mortgage holder with a $7 million mortgage on the Burgess Center.  In addition Hosteler Insurance Agency holds nearly half a million in claims against GGHDC. Total judgments presently on file in the dockets of the City of Philadelphia total $9.5 million dollars.

Although the IRS, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the City of Philadelphia have judgments and claims in the multi-millions, to date virtually none of these agencies have filed substantive claims in the bankruptcy process.