By: Timothy Wan
In Gotham, there was a dilapidated amusement park, the “Gotham Playland”. You know the kind. Kiddie rides that had not been updated since they were installed in 1985. Concession stands where the paint on the counters was so worn, you can see where people rested their elbows, waiting for their funnel cake and soft hot pretzels. Old midway-games, like the ones that boast a “Prize for Every Player”, plush bears larger than the child who wants to win them, and where you throw a dart into a field of balloons, to win a meager prize (no more worthy than that of the dollar store), just to realize the scheme that you need to win seven, in order to “trade-up” to that mega-bear your child is eye-ing.
Along came an investor, whom I shall refer to as “Zoltar”. Zoltar grew up eating cotton candy at the Gotham Playland going with his parents. Probably had his first kiss on the Ferris Wheel. Maybe even took his own kids there. Zoltar wanted nothing more than to revitalize the Playland. And so, he took his life savings, drained his retirement accounts, and bought the Playland. But Zoltar embraced his darker desires, and steered away from common carnival attractions, and placed the “haunted house” as the bottom, most family-friendly attraction in the park, filling it with thrill rides and horror show oddities, hiring actors to play monsters, creatures, and even walking corpses.
Zoltar retained a marketing agency, whom I shall refer to as “MacMillan Marketing”, to set up an advertising campaign, and MacMillan did just that. And, aligning with Halloween, the Gotham Playland become the Gotham Asylum, with patrons attending in droves.
Zoltar amped up their marketing efforts, and ended up committing to a year’s worth of television, print, and community sponsorships, at the recommendation of MacMillan. Everything would have worked out fine, except the contract was signed in the Fall of 2019, and the Asylum was closed between December 1 and, what they expected, to be an April 1, 2020 opening.
When the Asylum was unable to open in the Spring of 2020, MacMillan suspended the agreement until the Fall of 2020, but Zoltar was unable to get his staff back, in order to re-open. MacMillan suspended the agreement until Spring 2021, and Zoltar was able to re-launch, and re-open the Gotham Asylum. However, even though he re-opened, the revenue never reached its heights again, and closed in 2022.
However, Zoltar signed a personal guarantee of the agreement with MacMillan, and still owed about $40,000.
MacMillan hired us to collect the debt, and we filed suit, after Zoltar ignored our outreach attempts. Zoltar never responded, and we obtained a default judgment.
In our enforcement attempts, Zoltar retained counsel, who agreed to a payment arrangement. We executed a stipulation of settlement, and the first payment was made timely. No second payment was made, and the attorney brought an application to be relieved as counsel, because his client was not returning his calls, either.
The Court granted the application, and it turns out that Zoltar was actually now a resident of the Federal Government. During 2020, Zoltar apparently fraudulently obtained over $13 million in COVID-19 loans, which he used for personal purchases, such as paying off his personal mortgage, buying a Bentley, and acquiring a Cape Cod vineyard.
When we verified these facts, we had no choice but to advise the MacMillan that we would close the file as uncollectible. The debtor went directly to jail. He did not pass go. He will not collect $200. And neither will we.
