Bankruptcy estate ruling applies to high-roller's attorney, court rules

By Carri Geer
Review-Journal

      A $307,000 judgment against Japanese high-roller Ken Mizuno also applies to his Las Vegas lawyer Dominic Gentile, according to a recent court order.
      In September 1995, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Lynne Riddle of California ordered Gentile and Mizuno to pay the damages to Mizuno's bankruptcy estate.
      She said the two men violated an automatic stay in the case when they continued to make court filings asserting Mizuno's property rights to millions in assets. The stay prevented any party from interfering with the property of the bankruptcy estate.
      Mizuno forfeited some $600 million in property when his business, Ken International, pleaded guilty in Las Vegas to money laundering and other charges.
      Authorities accused the corporation of overselling country club memberships to Japanese investors and funneling some of the proceeds to the United States.
      U.S. District Judge Linda McLaughlin of California released Gentile and Mizuno from the $307,000 judgment in December 1995. Representatives of the bankruptcy estate then appealed that decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
      The appeals court ruled Sept. 17, stating, "Because the bankruptcy court did not err in finding Mizuno violated the automatic stay, and Mizuno has not shown that the bankruptcy court erred in awarding damages for this violation, we affirm both the bankruptcy court's finding of liability and its damage award."
      In September, Gentile disputed assertions that the ruling applied to him.
      "There's no way they forgot to put my name in there," he said.
      He said he planned to petition the court for clarification and to seek a new hearing on the judgment against Mizuno. In December the court denied the request for a rehearing.
      The court's September decision "affirmed the bankruptcy court's finding of liability and damage award against both Ken Mizuno and Dominic P. Gentile."
      The court denied the clarification motion, stating, "No further filings will be entertained in these closed appeals."
      Mizuno, 63, was convicted in March of fraud and tax evasion in Japan and received an 11-year prison sentence.
      Craig Millet, an attorney with the California law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, said in September that representatives of Mizuno's bankruptcy estate planned to go after Gentile for the judgment.
      Gentile and Millet, whose firm represents the Japanese administrator of the bankruptcy estate, could not be reached Thursday.