In a disgusting sign of desperation, LEOS-PBA criminal Executive Director Steve Maritas declares bankruptcy for both himself and one of the unions he controls! In doing so, he publicly declares that neither he nor his union has assets to pay their debts and places themselves under the authority and supervision of the bankruptcy court. Maritas has bankrupt both himself and his union so severely that he declares under penalty of perjury that financial reorganization is not even possible and demands court ordered liquidation. His Director Calvin Wells also filed bankruptcy as part of the ongoing lawsuit.
Why did Maritas act so desperately at this time? Because this week he and his union were to face a federal jury in Detroit on multiple claims of defamation and trademark infringement. Maritas knew they were facing yet another loss, and yet another judgment against them in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. As a result of the bankruptcy filing, there is an automatic delay to the federal trial. But that delay will be short, and the end result will be the same.
The expert legal authorities we have consulted advise that Maritas attempts to manipulate the system to avoid responsibility will fail spectacularly yet again. Notwithstanding his nonsensical blustering claims that he will prevail, the legal authorities advise he will lose. Big time. This is because not only are the claims in the federal court lawsuit intention acts and therefore not dischargeable in bankruptcy – that is, even after a bankruptcy the claims remain valid and collectable against both Maritas and the Union – but importantly notwithstanding Maritas’ unsupported claims, the LEOS-PBA and UFLEOS are responsible for the debts. In fact, Maritas’ desperate bankruptcy ploy actually helps the SPFPA, as it will shorten the time now for a court to rule that the UFLEOS funds will be used to pay the judgments and other debts to the SPFPA.
While we will not discuss the legal arguments here, we will keep you advised as the courts rule.
Remember, despite Maritas’ continuous boasting over the years that he will prevail in the legal challenges, the SPFPA has won the legal disputes in all of the lawsuits, at every step of the way. Although Maritas consistently proclaimed our claims were without merit, and that instead his legal claims would prevail, the exact opposite has occurred in all of the lawsuits we have filed against him and the Union so far. We won the $500,000 plus jury judgment against him. All of his appeals were dismissed. We won all of the pre-trial motions in the Detroit federal case that was scheduled for next week that resulted in our claims remaining for the jury to decide. We won our argument that Maritas intentionally destroyed tens of thousands of documents in that case, and the federal judge will soon rule on the penalties. The same federal judge will soon rule on the sanctions against Maritas and his union after already finding that Maritas “deliberately misrepresented” the record in bringing a bad faith motion.
This is Maritas’ second bankruptcy filing to avoid his obligations, although we acknowledge it appears to be the first time he has bankrupted his union. This is just another Maritas attempt to avoid his responsibilities and obligations, and like the previous attempts, it will fail spectacularly.
This is an ongoing story, and we will keep you advised.