Bank of Boston Connecticut v. Chumnanvech
Bank of Boston Connecticut v. Chumnanvech
Opinion of the Court
In this appeal, the defendants Jeffrey Wagner and Cindy Wagner
After a hearing on the prejudgment remedy application, the trial court found the following facts. On September 14,1988, Nongnuch Chumnanvech and Jeffrey Wagner each executed a personal guarantee of a promissory note in the amount of $1,200,000, plus interest, from Sackett Point Senior Homes (Sackett Point) to the plaintiff, the Bank of Boston Connecticut (bank). At that time, Wagner furnished to the bank a financial statement showing two properties, one located at Davis Hill, Weston, listed as having a fair market value of $700,000, and the other located at Godfrey Road, Weston, listed as having a fair market value of $300,000, as personal assets. On March 23, 1990, the bank advised Wagner that the note was due on April 1, 1990, with a payment of $1,256,827.16 and, by letter dated April 19, 1990, Wagner received a written demand for payment from the bank’s attorneys. The note went into default for nonpayment. On April 5, 1990, Jeffrey Wagner quitclaimed the properties located at Davis Hill and Godfrey Road to his wife, Cindy Wagner, for a consideration of $1 as to each parcel. After finding that a short period had elapsed since the bank’s demand letter and the due date of the note to the transfer, the trial court concluded that there was probable cause to sustain the validity of the bank’s claim regarding Jeffrey Wagner’s personal guarantee of payment and that there was “probable cause to sustain the validity of the § 52-552 claim as set forth in count three.”
After the defendants filed a motion for articulation, which was denied by the trial court, they filed a motion for review of the trial court’s denial in this court. We granted the motion to review and denied the relief requested. This appeal ensued.
The defendants argue that there was lacking any finding by the trial court of probable cause that there was clear and convincing evidence of a fraudulent conveyance. They posit that since the plaintiff is required to show that the plaintiff would succeed on its claim of fraudulent conveyance, it necessitates a showing of
In Haxhi, this court found that the reliance by the trial court on an incorrect definition of malice in the context of a libel claim rendered the trial court’s probable cause determination invalid; the use by the trial court of the wrong legal standards regarding the underlying claim tainted any probable cause determination. Such is not the case here. It is clear, from the findings of the trial court, that it was persuaded that the plaintiffs had established probable cause that there was a fraudulent conveyance.
“A fraudulent conveyance for the purpose of attachment is one made without substantial consideration and which renders the debtor unable to meet his obligation or one made with a fraudulent intent in which the grantee participated. Town Bank & Trust Co. v. Benson, 176 Conn. 304, 307, 407 A.2d 971 (1978). Denison Development Co. v. Gunther, 189 Conn. 333, 335, 455 A.2d 1340 (1983).” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Sweet v. Sumnerbrook Mill Development Corporation, 21 Conn. App. 191, 195, 572 A.2d 365 (1990). Here, the facts relied on by the trial court in finding that probable cause exists were that the conveyance was made upon $1 consideration for each parcel, that the conveyance was made within days of Jeffrey Wagner’s being informed of the demand, and that the conveyance rendered Jeffrey Wagner unable to meet his obligation under the personal guarantee. Furthermore, given the trial court’s specific reference to § 52-552, it is clear that the trial court was well aware of, and applied, the appropriate standard of proof.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
The trial court declined to grant the application for a prejudgment remedy against the defendants Nongnuch Chumnanvech and Theerayut Chumnanvech and they are not parties to this appeal. In this opinion we refer to Jeffrey Wagner and Cindy Wagner as the defendants.
General Statutes (Rev. to 1989) § 52-552 provides that “[a]ll fraudulent conveyances, suits, judgments, executions or contracts, made or contrived with intent to avoid any debt or duty belonging to others, shall, notwithstanding any pretended consideration therefor, be void as against those persons only, their heirs, executors, administrators or assigns, to whom such debt or duty belongs.”
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.