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<a href="http://ocbiz.freedomblogging.com/2009/01/14/gantes-family-lists-345-million-in-debts/8180/"> O.C. restaurant magnate and family lists $345 million in debt</a>



<blockquote>The preliminary numbers are in for the personal bankruptcy of John Gantes, who controls the Breckenridge Group and some 200 affiliates. He and his wife, Linda Bridgford Gantes (of the Bridgford Foods clan), filed papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana Tuesday listing assets of $2,697,466.81 against $345,313,071.99 in liabilities. The vast majority of the liabilities are unsecured.



Gantes filed separate Chapter 11 reorganization petitions for 25 of his businesses in November and December. He followed up with a personal Chapter 7 liquidation petition for himself and his wife. The personal case appears to be designed to cancel about $200 million in personal guarantees that Gantes signed on behalf of his businesses.



<strong>Major creditors include Farmers & Merchants Bank, which holds a $22 million third mortgage on the Gantes? home in Laguna Niguel; the petition says the house really is worth $2,653,188</strong>.</blockquote>
 
[quote author="ABC123" date=1232017925]<a href="http://ocbiz.freedomblogging.com/2009/01/14/gantes-family-lists-345-million-in-debts/8180/"> O.C. restaurant magnate and family lists $345 million in debt</a>



<blockquote>The preliminary numbers are in for the personal bankruptcy of John Gantes, who controls the Breckenridge Group and some 200 affiliates. He and his wife, Linda Bridgford Gantes (of the Bridgford Foods clan), filed papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana Tuesday listing assets of $2,697,466.81 against $345,313,071.99 in liabilities. The vast majority of the liabilities are unsecured.



Gantes filed separate Chapter 11 reorganization petitions for 25 of his businesses in November and December. He followed up with a personal Chapter 7 liquidation petition for himself and his wife. The personal case appears to be designed to cancel about $200 million in personal guarantees that Gantes signed on behalf of his businesses.



<strong>Major creditors include Farmers & Merchants Bank, which holds a $22 million third mortgage on the Gantes? home in Laguna Niguel; the petition says the house really is worth $2,653,188</strong>.</blockquote></blockquote>
Wow and just when I thought that F&M Bank was conservative. haha
 
"Major creditors include Farmers & Merchants Bank, which holds a $22 million third mortgage on the Gantes? home in Laguna Niguel; the petition says the house really is worth $2,653,188."



Clearly a case of predatory lending.
 
I for one KNOW that Farmers & Merchants Bank is conservative because they hired conservatives looking actors with soothing voices for their TV ads.
 
There?s something seriously amiss with this story.

This guy is a whale.

Breckenridge Group brings in $223M in revenue annually.

Yet, his total assets are listed at $2.697M
 
<a href="http://ocbiz.freedomblogging.com/2009/01/29/gantes-workers-laid-off-with-no-pay/8730/">What a nice guy</a>



<blockquote>

<strong>Gantes workers laid off with no pay</strong>

January 29th, 2009, 12:10 pm ? 12 Comments ? posted by Ronald Campbell



UPDATE: A company official confirmed mid-afternoon Thursday that the employees will be paid. CLICK HERE for details.



As many as 350 laid-off employees of John Gantes? bankrupt restaurant empire were told this week that they would not get their final paychecks.



An unsigned letter from Irvine-based Spectrum Apple II LP, dated Tuesday, said ?that due to negative economic conditions resulting from ongoing deficits we lack funds [to] issue your final paycheck.?



But Evan Smiley, a bankruptcy attorney for Gantes, said that the former employees will ?all be paid in full.?



Gantes was ?waiting for the credit card receivables to come in, and they?re processing the paychecks now,? Smiley said Thursday.



Gantes, a Laguna Niguel businessman who told creditors last year that he was worth more than $200 million, filed personal bankruptcy in December. He listed assets of about $2.7 million and debts of $363.7 million, up from the $345 million that he first declared.



He also is trying to reorganize 25 of his companies through Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.



At his height Gantes controlled 110 restaurant franchises through his Rancho Santa Margarita company, the Breckenridge Group. He operated franchises for such chains as Burger King, Arby?s, Ruby?s Diner, Carino?s Italian Grill and Famous Dave?s.



The letter was sent to employees at seven Applebee?s restaurants that Gantes operated in Ventura and northern Los Angeles counties. Former managers said there were about 50 employees at each of the seven Applebee?s, which were closed in two waves on Jan. 15 and Jan. 17.



Employees were supposed to be paid Tuesday for the Jan. 1-15 pay period, said Tonya Haberman, former general manager of the Applebee?s store in Santa Clarita.



She said some employees were guaranteed 10 hours pay to work a partial shift closing the restaurants ? money they never received.



?I am very disappointed in the fact that many of us have spent years breaking our backs for this company,? Haberman said.



California law protects employees who are denied their paychecks. They can file complaints with the state labor commissioner. To get a copy of the wage-claim form, CLICK HERE. The U.S. Labor Department also handles unpaid-wage issues; call 1-866-487-9243.



</blockquote>
 
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