Former Geppetto Catering exec accused of hiding funds from bankruptcy estate in new complaint

A court-appointed trustee in his Chapter 7 bankruptcy case accuses the former Geppetto Catering Co. executive of hiding hundreds of thousands of dollar through allegedly fraudulent transfer.

Josh Carin abruptly resigned in July 2020 from the former Riverdale Company. He allegedly failed in his documentation to support his bankruptcy petition filed at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Greenbelt, Maryland, in April 2021 to disclose transactions from his accounts with Bank of America or Navy Federal Credit Union.

Greenfeld's attorneys allege that Carin, in the complaint filed on April 11, moved money out of the accounts without permission, first to respond to threats from Geppetto’s majority owner, and then in response again during the bankruptcy proceedings.

Carin's representatives could not be reached to comment.

Carin is accused, according to the complaint, of transferring $110 461.92 from an account that he had with his mother Roberta who passed away in October 2019 to an account shared with Moira Geronimo Carin in July 2020. Greenfeld claims in court documents that this was just days after Charles Lenkin and Geppetto's majority owner Charles Lenkin had sent an attorney a letter warning them to pursue Carin over what Lenkin claimed were corporate wrongdoings. This included theft of the company's equipment, resources, and property.

Lawrence Katz and David Swan, Hirschler Fleischer's attorneys, wrote for Greenfeld: 'The fraudulent transfers were made and received with the intent to delay, hinder or defraud creditors.

This is the latest twist in the more complex legal drama between Geppetto and Carin, as well as the Montgomery County Revenue Authority. Geppetto, Lenkin and others have filed a separate suit in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County alleging that Carin's actions caused Geppetto to fail and unfairly enriched MCRA. They claim Carin was hired by MCRA to run a catering business Geppetto had paid for. In its response, the MCRA denied any wrongdoing, and portrayed the authority as an innocent victim of Carin’s actions.

Carin and wife reached a partial settlement with Geppetto & Lenkin in November 2021. They agreed to give Geppetto & Lenkin an unassignable claim for $5.5 million from Carin's bankruptcy. In exchange, they were released from any further litigation.

The settlement did nothing to protect Carin and his wife against the action of the bankruptcy court trustee. On April 11, the trustee filed a four-count bankruptcy complaint in bankruptcy court seeking the return Navy Federal funds. The complaint claims that a number 'badges' of fraud apply to the transfer. These include that the money was transferred to an account controlled Carin and the funds were liquidated 3 years before the security maturity date.

Greenfeld also filed a separate lawsuit the same day, accusing Carin of failing to disclose the Bank of America account that he had jointly owned with his parents until their deaths in March and Oct. 2019, at which point he became sole owner. Carin, according to the complaint, transferred more than $200,000.00 from his account to his siblings after his parents died, but before his bankruptcy case.

The complaint alleges that Carin failed to include information about the transfers on his bankruptcy court papers, or on two transfers that followed, the first for $14,568 going to James Magno the accountant, and the second for $2,000 going to 33 Canal Landing LLC, which Carin controls.

Carin was ordered to return the funds and $18,708, which was the balance of her Bank of America account when the bankruptcy petition was filed.