Sue Montecito

Montecito Fine Arts school - News Reports

2010-06-30T13:37:00.000-07:00

The following news stories will be of interest to all concerned.

Southern California Public Radio:

"Suit claims Montecito Fine Arts school preyed on immigrant families"

http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/06/29/art-schoo-scam/

LA Times:

"Private school leaders sued for fraud after bankruptcy filing"

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-school-suit-20100630,0,4048229.story

Pasadena Star News:

"77 parents file lawsuit against bankrupt Monrovia art school"

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_15401189

SGV Tribune

"Lawsuit claims shut-down private school kept students' tuition fees"'

http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_15404251

.

Season's Greetings

2009-12-20T23:30:00.000-08:00

Everyone involved with the Sue Montecito site would like to wish all parents, students and former staff, all the best for the holiday season and the new year.

At this stage, all we can suggest, is to make sure your proof of claims have been sent to the courts, and any other information be passed to the relevant agencies.

The DLSE Wage Claims have been dismissed due to the filing for bankruptcy, but proof of claim forms should be submitted to the court by former staff members as an alternative.

There are no specifics to disclose for now; all we can do for a while is wait for events to take their course, and hopefully report back soon.

URGENT!! Asian Pacific American Legal Center - November 15th

2009-11-04T21:49:00.000-08:00

All,

I’m sorry to notify you that we need to change the meeting schedule to November 15th (due to meeting conflict on Nov. 8) at Asian Pacific American Legal Center Office.

Schedule:

9:30am on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009

Location:

1145 Wilshire Blvd. 2nd Fl, Los Angeles, CA 90017.

Sorry for inconvenience! Please contact me or Christina Yang at (213) 241-0217 with any questions.

Lynn

Asian Pacific American Legal Center - November - RESCHEDULED

2009-11-02T22:22:00.000-08:00

RE-SCHEDULED!! TO NOV 15TH

(this original post kept for reference only)

All,

The next meeting at Asian Pacific American Legal Center Office will be held at 9:30am on Nov. 8, 2009. RE-SCHEDULED!! TO NOVEMBER 15TH

The address is
1145 Wilshire Blvd. 2nd Fl,
Los Angeles, CA 90017.

Lynn

RE-SCHEDULED!! TO NOV 15TH

Meeting Proposal - November 1st

2009-10-31T01:12:00.000-07:00

"All,

I'd like to host a meeting to update the status. Please schedule to attend it if you can.

Date:

2:30pm on Nov. 1st, 2009
Location:

9119 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City. CA 91780

Lynn"

Notice of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

2009-10-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

All,

1. I believed some of the parents just received the Form 9D (Notice of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Case, Meeting of Creditors and Deadlines) and Form 10 (Proof of Claim Form) from Attorney Foroozandeh. It’s not necessary to redo it if you already filed a Proof of Claim and received the acknowledgement of your filling from bankruptcy court.

2. Due to the conversion from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7, the new deadline to file a Proof of Claim is February 17, 2010. Please file it if you have not done your claim. For acknowledgment of your filing, you can either enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope and a copy of the proof of claim form or you may access the court’s PACER system at www.pacer.psc.uscourts.gov and for a small fee, view your filed proof of claim if you didn't receive anything from bankruptcy court.

3. Below is the contact information for Bankruptcy Trustee who is working on this Chapter 7 case. You can mail or email to report any information related to the case.

Name: Howard Ehrenberg
Address: 333 South Hope Street, 35th Fl.
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel: 213-626-2311

4. A meeting of creditors (after converting from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7) will be held at 10:00am on Nov. 19, 2009. The location is:

725 S. Figueroa St., Room 101,

Los Angeles, CA 90017.

Please schedule to attend the meeting if you can.

5. As you know, I’m working with APALC, looking for an attorney who can represent us either on a contingency basis or a free service from Pro Bono. An Attorney Ma from APALC called me about an opportunity to have a face-to-face interview meeting next week. Please let me know if you would like to meet with this attorney. The meeting is scheduled at 6:30pm, Oct. 29, 2009, at APA legal center office which located at 1145 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90017. We would hope to have 20 parents to show up.

Lynn

***************************************

各位：

1、我知道有些家长刚刚收到了表格9D（破产第七章的通知，债权人听证会和截止日期）和表格10（索赔表），如果你已经填写寄出
并收到破产法庭的签收单后就不需要再重复填写。

2、因为破产11章变更为第七章，填报“索赔表“的截止日期延至2010年2月17日，如果你还没有填报此表请尽快完成。如果你想要
有法庭的签收单，请在寄出“索赔表“时一同放入一个贴好邮票并有自己收信地址的回邮信封寄给破产法庭。

3、以下是为破产第七章工作的 TRUSTEE联络方式，如果你有任何与此案件有关的资讯可以邮寄或E-MAIL给他们：
Name: Howard Ehrenberg
Address: 333 South Hope Street, 35th Fl.
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Tel: 213-626-2311

4、在由破产11章变更为第七章后还有一次听证会，时间：11月19日 10:00am 地址： 725 S. Figueroa St., Room 101, Los Angeles,
CA 90017。
5、大家都知道我在寻找免费或分成律师为我们争取权益，马律师愿意在下个星期与我们面谈一次，如果你愿意参加和律师面谈，

请告诉我。与律师面谈的地址是：1145 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90017 6:30pm on Oct. 29, 2009. 希望有20个以上家长参加。

LYNN

'Futura Education Inc.' Hearing Report from Oct 7th

2009-10-09T00:42:00.000-07:00

All,

1. The hearing for Futura Education Inc. on Oct 7th was very short. Basically, the judge granted the motion from chapter 11 to chapter 7.

2. The trustee will prepare all necessary paper work for the court and assign an independent trustee to work out the total assets and trace each transaction for past 4 years. It means the independent trustee will find out where the money went and how the money was spent.

3. If the independent trustee finds out the money wasn't spend on matters related to the school, the independent trustee will present the creditors with an option to either negotiate with the owner, or file a civil lawsuit to get the money back.

4. Most of the parents did file the formal complaint to Consumer Affairs. Please also prepare your story with the information on what you know happened to the money and email/mail it to the trustee in order to support the independent trustee and to speed up the case. Again, here is the contact information for the trustee.

Dare Law
725 South Figueroa Street, Suite 2600
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Tel: 213-894-4925
Fax: 213-894-2603

Email: dare.law@usdoj.gov

If there is evidence, the trustee will forward the information to the Dept of US Attorney General and Federal Trade Commission to seek the criminal sanction.

5. Meanwhile, we should put together a list of all parents and the amounts you paid in total, how much you are owed and the way you paid for the tuition such as credit card, check or CASH. It will be helpful to the independent trustee to audit the financial numbers. Please fill out the form and email back to me.

Parents' Info form

6. There will be a new deadline for proof of claim due to the converting from chapter 11 to chapter 7. Please just file your “Proof of Claim” form as soon as possible. If you already did it, it’s not necessary to re-do it.

Lynn

Here are the form links again:

Futura Edu.: Case Number: 2:09-31217-AA: That’s for everyone EXCEPT high school claims.
Montecito: Case Number: 2:09-31201-AA. That’s FOR high school claims.
Instructions: That’s the instructions for “Proof of Claim”

All,

Thanks for the translation in Chinese from Kelly. Meanwhile, there is no meeting on Oct. 14 due to the converting from chapter 11 to chapter 7. Make sure to file your "Proof of Claim" form to bankruptcy court.

Lynn

各位：

1. 10 月 7 日Futura的听证会非常短暂。基本上，法官同意了将破产11章变更为破产7章。

2. Trustee将会把所有必须的资料整理归纳后转交给一位独立的
Trustee去计算Futura和MFA的资产并核查在过去四年中每一笔
财务动态，寻找资金去向和怎样使用的资金。

3. 如果Trustee发现这些资金没有花费到与学校有关系的项内，Trustee将会给债权人两个选择；与学校业主庭外和解
获得赔偿或民事诉讼获得赔偿。

4. 大部分家长已经给消费者协会递交了控告文件。请把发生在你身上的经过和你所知道的有关本案的线索EMAIL或发信件给Trustee，
以加快本案件的进展。**trustee将会把所有证据提交给美国司法部门和联邦商务委员会对此作刑事处罚。

以下是Trustee的联络方式：

Dare Law
725 South Figueroa Street, Suite 2600
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Tel: 213-894-4925
Fax: 213-894-2603
Email: dare.law@usdoj.gov

5. 期间，我们应该将所有家长的付费金额、付费方式（注明：信用卡、支票、现金）和欠款金额汇总后列表，可帮助独立
Trustee来更精准的计算Futura和MFA的债权和债务。请尽快Email 给我以上信息。

Parents' Info form

6. 在将破产11章变更为破产7章后，“索赔表“的截止期稍有延后，如果您还没填写索赔表格，也请尽快填写寄出。

LYNN

Futura Edu.: Case Number: 2:09-31217-AA: That’s for everyone EXCEPT high school claims.
Montecito: Case Number: 2:09-31201-AA. That’s FOR high school claims.
Instructions: That’s the instructions for “Proof of Claim”

Latest Updates and Proposals

2009-10-02T23:35:00.000-07:00

All,

(1). Parents’ Meeting:

I’d like to propose a parents’ meeting as followings

Date: Oct. 4, 2009

Time: 2:30pm

Place: 9119 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City, CA

Agenda:

1. Update the status

Not sure whether you attended the hearing held on Sep 30 regarding a motion against Montecito Fine Arts Inc. There were two sections. The first section is the motion for converting the case from chapter 11 to 7. The second section is a conference with debtor counselor, trustee and Judge for request the motion to merge two cases into one. Please see the summary listed below.

2. Discussing the strategies for the coming hearing on Oct. 7. Again, here is schedule for the hearing.

Time: 10:30 am

Location:
Courtroon 1375, 13th Flr. Edward Eovbal Fed. Bldg.
255 East Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

(2). Thanks for Andy Ku who showed up in the hearing and provided the summary below.

The 1st section:

1. Trustee (Dare Law) simply stated that the records of data are completely improper record, and the debtor can’t provide all necessary info on time, and only faxed over yesterday late afternoon, and there is no way for her to review the data, and didn’t meet the bankruptcy court’s requirement – 7 days prior. Conclusively, she request court to convert the application from chapter 11 to chapter 7, as she didn’t see any transparency of record, and lack of proof.

2. Debtor counselor explained that due his clients need time to group all evident for trustee, and they need time to do it, and regarding the motion for converting from chapter 11 to chapter 7, he claimed that his clients has no objection, as they just found out two days ago, as if any high school did file bankruptcy, the data need to reapply the reopening procedure which takes more than 18 months to process, so his clients don’t see there is any chance to keep that long.

3. Judge announced the motion granted from converting the case from chapter 11 to 7, and request trustee to follow up.

The 2nd section:

1. Trustee explained the request of motion for merging the two case Futura & Montecito in one, as during the hearing, and visit, she can’t find appropriate record to show her that they run separately. Plus debtor side can’t even provide the info on time, even thought they faxed over yesterday the info, she not sure whether the info are accurate and correct. Moreover she claimed that the insurance of the data are from out of state which is not supposed to be, as the data is located inside California, and then the school insurance provider should be inside CA. Also data can’t provide a list of creditors as well.

2. Debtor counselor explained that he was aware of the insurance issue, however, he kind of switching the topic about the AR which suppose to be around 400,000.00 dollars, and he don’t see why need to merge two cases into one.

3. Judge express to the trustee that since they just faxed the info yesterday, and she need time to review and at the same time, the court day for Futura already been set on Oct 7, 10:30 am, so he feel its ok for him to wait till next judgment day to decide whether to merge the cases.

(3) During the 2nd 341 meeting today, the trustee indicated that we might have another 341 meeting listed below if Futura Education Inc. survives in a chapter 11 next Wednesday.
*** UPDATE ***

*** FUTURA DID NOT SURVIVE CHAPTER 11 ***

*** HEARING CANCELLED***

Date: Oct. 14, 2009
Time: 10:30am

Place:
Court Room 2610
725 S. Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017

*** UPDATE ***

*** FUTURA DID NOT SURVIVE CHAPTER 11 ***

*** HEARING CANCELLED***

Lynn

***************************************************

各位：

1、我要在10月4日下午 2：30pm 在 9119 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City 召集家长会。

会议内容：

a) 通报最新情况:
不知道各位是否参加了9月30日的关于对" MFA" 的听证会，听证会内容分为两个部分. 第一部分是关于MFA从破产法１１章
变更为破产法７章（完全破产）．　第二部分是：Trustee建议合并MFA和Futura 为一个破产提案。　请看以下说明。

b)、商讨１０月７号听证会的对策。
　　　１０月７日听证会的　地点、时间是：10:30 am
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Courtroon 1375, 13th Flr. Edward Eovbal Fed. Bldg.

255 East Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

2,　感谢Andy Ku 参加９月３０号的听证会并提供以下听证会内容。

　　第一部分：
　　　　１.　Trustee(Dare Law) 说：因为债务人（ED)　没有按破产法庭的规定在听证会前七天提交相关文件，直到听证会
　　　　　　前一天的下午才传真给Trustee非正式的相关文件；Trustee 没有时间也无法确定这些文件的合法性和真实性。
　　　　　　所以，Trustee 要求此案件由破产法１１章变更为破产法７章。

　　　　２.　债务人的法律顾问解释说因为他的客户(ED)需要时间收集有关资料，　而且他的客户（ＥＤ）并不反对此案件由
　　　　　　破产法１１章变更为破产法７章。因为（ＥＤ）在两天前才知道任何高中在破产后必须在１８个月以后才能重新开始。

　　　　３.　法官宣布开始破产法１１章转破产法７章的操作，　并要求trustee 做相关协助。　　

　　第二部分：
　　　　 1. Trustee　要求合并MFA 和　Futura　的案件是因为债务人（ＥＤ）无法证明两个公司的业务是分开运行的。而且ＥＤ
　　　　　　　提供的学校保险公司是外州的，　这是不应该的，　学校的保险商应该在加州。同时ＥＤ无法提供债权人的名单。

　　　　 2. 债务人的法律顾问说：他知道保险的问题，　但是他转移了话题，并声称有４０万的应收款，而且不知道为什么要
　　　　　　　把两个案件合二为一。

　　　　 3. 法官对Trustee 说：因为ＥＤ的资料昨天才传真过来，我们根本没有时间看这些资料．既然已经定了１０月７号是
　　　　　　　Ｆｕｔｕｒａ的听证会，　两案是否合二为一待听证会后再定。

３，　今天的听证会上，　Trustee 说如果Futura在１０月７号的听证会上能通过破产法１１章，　那么将会有另一次３４１听证会．
*** UPDATE ***

*** FUTURA DID NOT SURVIVE CHAPTER 11 ***

*** HEARING CANCELLED***

　　　　日期和地点是：
Date: Oct. 14, 2009
Time: 10:30am
*** UPDATE ***

*** FUTURA DID NOT SURVIVE CHAPTER 11 ***

*** HEARING CANCELLED***

Place: Court Room 2610

725 S. Figueroa Street

Los Angeles, CA 90017

URGENT!! Futura Education Inc. Second Meeting on Oct 2, 2009

2009-10-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

All,

Not sure whether you received the letter about the notice of continuation of 341 meeting of the creditors for Futura Education Inc. Please schedule to attend the meeting as followings.

Date: Oct 2, 2009
Time: 11:30am
Place: Court Room 2610, 725 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017

Lynn

关于MOTECITO学校破产听证会纪实与看法

2009-09-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

关于MONTECITO学校破产听证会纪实与看法
根据法律程序，申请破产的债务人方面应将此案件听证会和开庭的具体日期和时间提前通知债权人，但是作为债权人的我们几乎都没有收到这种通知。债务人的目的不言而喻：他们不希望债权人出现在听证会或法庭上，他们也不希望面对面的回答债权人犀利的问题（根据法律程序，申请破产的当事人必须亲自到场并回答债权人的质问、提问）。
感谢我们的义工，他们自己到法庭查出了此案件的听证会日期并通知了我们，使得我们有一个在法律程序下面对面向当事人提问的机会，此过程中所有的问、答均有录音存档。
根据自己的记忆，整理出了两次听证会部分主要问题的问、答综合如下，并附加了看法与大家共享(带有 *** 符号的为本人看法)：
在听证会开始时，法庭案件托管人（Trustee）要求申请破产的债务人起立并举起右手宣誓：自己所说都是真实的。在以下的债权、债务双方的问答中我们来看看债务人方面“真实”的回答：
1、问：学校有上千名学生，绝大多数学生预交了学费，还有很多学生预交了几年的学费，这么多钱哪里去了？学校每月总支出多少？

ED答：学校每月总支出五十多万，所收的学费都花费到学校的教学方面，例如：教师、员工的工资、保险、学校的租金、教学设备的付款，等等。

*** 我们都知道在MONTECITO学校倒闭之前，学校业主就已经欠付教师员工多个月工资、欠付各种税款、欠付学校场地租金、欠付供应商货款，而且到场的教师和员工也向债务人提出欠薪欠税的质问。那么，钱到哪里去了？钱的去向是我们每个债权人的首要澄清重点，也是此破产案件是否有欺诈性的重点。

2、问：学校每月五十多万的支出包括那些项目？每项支出多少？

ED 答：工资大约xx万，租金大约xx万。由于ED所回答的支出项目和金额远远凑不出50多万的数额，ED几次说出：“我不知道”后由他的财务管理人NATHAN代为回答。尽管NATHAN回答的各项支出金额使用了“大约、大概、也许”等不确定字眼，最终也凑不出50多万的总支出额。

3、问：学校在预收高额学费时向家长们保证的“专款专用”帐户（TRUST ACCT）内的钱呢？是否真有这个帐户？
ED 答：没有。
*** 由于MONTECITO学校的促销计划要求家长为孩子们预交学费，很多家长提出：预交学费金额很大，如果学校一旦倒闭或因其他原因挪用了学费将使孩子的教育资金安全没有保障。校方（尤其是Trisha）总是信誓旦旦的保证：你们预交的学费我们都放在专用账户里（Trust Acct），保证专款专用，等到你们的孩子用到这笔钱的时候我们才会从专用账户里拿出来，用多少拿出来多少，这个账户是有专人管理的连我都无权动这个账户。在校方的诱骗下很多家长（包括我本人）相信了他们，出乎于支付学费惯例的预付学费资金大量流入学校业主的口袋，而直到在听证会上我们听到了学校业主的肯定答复：没有这个账户。

4、问：债务人申请破产法11章并声称“重新开学”，你们因为缺乏资金而申请破产，没有资金怎样“重新开学’?何时开学？

ED 答：准备2月11日开学。没有钱聘请老师我义务教学。

*** 即便是声称账户内只有几百元钱的ED可以义务教学，他自己是否能教上千个学生？他是否是全能全才的老师？教学场地在哪里？教学所需要的各种设备在哪里？还有谁相信他敢来上学？这种低级的、不能自圆其说的谎言竟然是他们申请破产法11章的理由，我们完全看不到债务人“重新开业”的诚意，他们只是在拖延时间为把此案件转换成破产法第7章（完全破产，甩掉所有责任和债务）作准备。

5、问：有的家长用现金支付的学费，这些现金是否依法进帐？

Nathan 答：我不知道，所有现金不经过我，只有ED和 Trisha经手。

6、问：学校早就出现了财务问题，为什么还在大量做广告欺骗并吸收资金后在短期内倒闭？

ED答：学校在倒闭前不久才出现财务问题，学校决定在7月初已经不再收学费了。

*** 有的家长当场拿出了7月中旬支付学费的证明。

7、把学校的财务文件和账簿拿出来让债权人看证明你们申请破产的真实性

法庭案件托管人（Trustee）解释：债权人必须经过必要的法律程序由律师向债务人（破产者）提出提交财务文件和账簿的要求。

8、问：为什么有的学费被第三家公司收取，既不是MFA,也不是FUTURA?

答：因信用卡机故障。
法庭Trustee 提问：信用卡机故障的周期？大约多长时间故障一次？第三家公司收走的学费是否转回MFA 或FUTURA?

答：已经转回以上两个公司。

Trustee又问：出示你们的账簿证明以上代收的学费已经转回来。

答：账簿在学校。

Trustee又问：安排一个时间我要看账簿中代收学费转回来的纪录。

听证会期间所有的问题基本围绕“我们的钱在哪里”？“债务人应出示有关财务文件和账簿来证实破产的真实性”！“学校早就出现欠薪资、欠税、欠租金、支票跳票等严重资金问题，为什么还要在媒体大作不实广告欺骗我们？并在各种促销计划的伪装蒙骗下预收巨额学费后倒闭？！”

MONTECITO学校的老师和员工们的问题基本围绕“欠薪资、欠税”方面。

**************************

各位家长，如果你们还记得Trisha Zhang 在各种媒体中用最能打动父母心的语言告诉我们怎样教育孩子，如果你们还保留着那些报纸上的广告承诺，对照现实，你将会更加理解“骗子”的含义。

让我们综合他们的广告承诺并回顾：

Montecito学校在报纸、电台、电视上大作广告，他们对高中以下的学生们承诺：参加Portfolio专业班他们可以帮学生申请、面试、成功录取世界顶尖名校；对于成人设计师职训班他们承诺：毕业后发职业大学教育证书、设计师证书、保证有年薪优厚的工作、学校正在申请发放本科大学毕业证书的资格；对小学的孩子承诺：开发他们的智力为今后申请好的学校做准备；对国外的学生承诺：参加Montecito英语预科班就等于被很多所大学同时录取，不用考托福就能直接进入本科大学学习；Montecito学校已经有30多年的历史，好莱坞影城和学校联合共同培养人才，等等。这些诱人的广告确实为Montecito学校带来了生意，上千个家庭为了孩子的美好前程做出了承担昂贵学费的决定，这些昂贵的学费在现在经济不景气的时期尤显厚重，对每个家庭都是一个不小的负担。
Montecito学校业主欺骗性的广告为这些家庭和孩子们编织了一个美丽的梦，使所有的家长相信：我们再辛苦几年孩子就会有一个美好的未来和人生。

在这些家庭中有很多夫妻是打工族，有的是自雇业主，有的是丈夫已经去世了的单亲妈妈，因为没有足够的钱一次缴清学费，很多人用信用卡支付学费，还有很多家庭将自己的住房再次抵押给银行，用第二贷款的钱支付孩子的学费。
由于MONTECITO学校的倒闭，孩子们的梦想破灭了，家长们为孩子们的教育投资被侵吞了。在随之而来的讼诉维权过程中由于华人群体的文化背景关系使我们的维权力度大打折扣：
有的家长说：我和MONTECITO学校签了“不退款”的合约，只能认倒霉。
善良的人们，请仔细看看你们和学校签的合约：学什么以及授课多少学时---是学校的责任，支付对应学校的授课学时所收取的费用---是家长的责任。“不退款”的学费原意是：当学校方兑现了在合约中的承诺而家长（或学生）方原因造成违约时，校方可以“不退款”。学校倒闭后校方无法兑现合约中授课学时的承诺（即：毁约），“不退款”自然也就不能成立。合约就是保护双方权益、监督履行双方责任义务的，否则就不是合约而是强盗。
有的家长说：听证会和法律诉讼都没有用，学校业主早跑路了。
这种现象是MOTECITO业主最愿意看到的，这意味着我们放弃了我们的权利。
如果这些家长多些法律常识或多关注自己的电子邮箱及诉讼MOTECITO的网站
就会知道：他们现在不敢也不能跑路，因为根据法律程序申请破产的当事人必须在听证会亲自到场并回答债权人的问题。与其在家里发牢骚不如到现场面对面的质问他们，请在法律程序下行使你的权利。最近还有两次听证会，请积极参加：
债务人：MFA
9/30/2009 10:00am 在 Courtroom 1375, 13th Flr., Edward Roybal Fed. Bldg 255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
债务人：FUTURA
10/07/2009 时间: 10:30 am
地点: Courtroom 1375, 13th Flr., Edward Roybal Fed. Bldg
255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

有的家长说：总会有人出头讨公道的，不差我一个人。
是啊，如果每个家长都这样想，如果没有这些义工和部分家长的努力也就没有今天的反击效果。请每一位家长回想一下：当孩子们正常上课的时候，我们看到了他们的成长，看到了孩子们的笑容，即使我们背负着沉重的教育投资也觉得欣慰。当学校倒闭后，我们看到了孩子们眼里的失望，我们听到了孩子们无奈的叹息，这本不应该属于他们的失望和叹息实在让我们家长心痛。为此，我们必须维护我们和孩子们的权益，这么庄重的维权行动还要搭顺风船吗？
我们理解很多家长工作繁忙，很多家长不能请假参加本案件的活动，请可以为本案作些工作的家长们不要计较，大家要顾大局明确我们的目的，尽可能为本案件多出一份力。
随着案件的进展，“学费的去向”已成为本案的焦点，MONTECITO学校的财务文件和账簿也成为本案的重要物证，但法庭TRUSTEE已经明确答复：必须经过必要的法律程序才可以让对方交出账簿。我们虽然懂得“是、非”但我们毕竟不是法律专业人员，拿捏不准合理与合法之间的界限与案件处理步骤地时机，我们应该聘请法律专业人员来帮助我们，不要贻误时机。
请各位家长尽可能出席9月30日和10月7日的听证会，也请英语口语好的家长归纳我们的重点问题并向债务人提问。
发出我们的声音，维护我们的权益！

学生家长：KELLY

Bankruptcy hearings on MONTECITO school - documentary and views

2009-09-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

**TEMPORARY GOOGLE TRANSLATION OF THE POST ABOVE**

Bankruptcy hearings on the MONTECITO school - documentary and views.

According to legal procedures, when the debtor filed for bankruptcy hearings and court cases, by a specific date and time the debtor should have given advance notice to the creditors. But as we have seen, almost all of the creditors did NOT receive such notification. The purpose of the debtor is self-evident: they do not want to appear at the hearing of creditors or the courts, they do not want to face up to the sharp questions and answer their creditors (according to legal procedures, the parties which filed for bankruptcy must personally appear and answer questions from creditors, Ask a question).

Thanks to our volunteers, who informed us of the court hearing dates in this case and informed us so that we have rights as parties in the proceedings - and we have an opportunity to ask questions. The whole process; the questions, and the answers are archived by an audio recording .
According to its own memory, sorting out the two hearings will be part of the key issues in question, A is summarized as follows, and additional views to share with you (with the *** symbol for my point of view):
The beginning of the hearing, the court cases the Trustee (Trustee) require the debtor filed for bankruptcy to stand and raised his right hand and swore: what he said is true. In the following claims, the debt of both questions and answers, we look at the debtor side "real" answer:
1, Q: thousands of school students, the vast majority of prepaid tuition students, there are many students for several years, tuition fees prepaid, so much money gone? The number of total monthly expenditure of the school?

ED A: The total expenditure of the school over half a million per month, the tuition fees are spent teaching in schools, such as: teachers, staff wages, insurance, rental of the school, teaching equipment, payment, and so on.

*** We all know that the school collapsed in the MONTECITO, the school owners had been many months of unpaid teachers, staff wages, all kinds of taxes owed, unpaid school grounds rent money owed by vendors, and the presence of teachers and staff also to the debtor wage taxes questions. So, the money gone? The whereabouts of the money is our first and foremost to clarify the focus of each creditor, but also the fraudulent bankruptcy cases have priority.

2, Q: School spending over half a million per month, including those items? The number of each item of expenditure?

ED A: The salary of about xx million in rent of about xx million. As the ED of the answer is far from Minato expenditure items and amounts not more than 50 million, the amount, ED several times to say: "I do not know" and his financial manager after the NATHAN to respond. Although the amount of expenditures to answer NATHAN use the term "about, probably, maybe" and other words of uncertainty, and ultimately Cou no more than 50 million total expenditure.

3, Q: high school tuition fees received in advance to the parents to ensure the "earmarking" account (TRUST ACCT) in the money? Really have this account?
ED A: No.
*** As MONTECITO promotion programs in schools require parents prepaid tuition for the children, many parents: a great amount of prepaid tuition, if the school closes down or otherwise misappropriated funds tuition fees for their children's education will make the lack of security. The school (especially Trisha) has always vowed to ensure that: your prepaid tuition fees that we are placed in special account (Trust Acct), to ensure earmarking, wait until your child to use the money from a special time when we will account out, how much out how much of this account is the benefit of expert management of even I have the right to move the account. In the school's duped a lot of parents (including myself) believed that they, contrary to the practice of advance payment of tuition fees the owners of large capital flows to the pockets of the school, but until we heard during the hearing the school's positive response from the owners: No this account.

4, Q: Chapter 11 debtor filed for bankruptcy and claimed that "re-opening," you have filed for bankruptcy due to lack of funds, no money how to "re-opening '? When the school?

ED A: The school prepared to February 11. I have no money to hire teachers of compulsory education.

*** Even the claim that the accounts of only a few hundred dollars of ED may be the obligation of teaching, whether he be able to teach thousands of students? Whether he is the all-powerful all-rounder of the teacher? Where is the teaching venue? Teaching a variety of devices needed where? Who to believe that he would dare to come to school? This low-level and can not justify the lies turned out to be their application for Chapter 11 bankruptcy law reasons, we can not see the debtor's "re-opened" in good faith, they were just buying time to put this case into Chapter 7 bankruptcy law ( completely bankrupt, get rid of all the responsibilities and obligations) as a preparation.

5, Q: Some parents pay cash for tuition, whether the cash revenue in accordance with law?

Nathan: I do not know, all cash without going through me, only the ED, and Trisha handled.

6, Q: The school has long been facing financial problems, why is still a large number of advertisements to deceive and to absorb the funds within a short period after the collapse?

ED A: The schools with financial problems shortly before the collapse, the school decided to early July is no longer in school fees.

*** Some of the parents on the spot in mid-July came up with proof of payment of tuition fees.

7, the school's financial documents and books show it to the creditors to see proof of the authenticity of your bankruptcy

Court case trustee (Trustee) explanation: the creditor must go through the necessary legal proceedings from the counsel to the debtor (bankrupt) for submission of financial documents and books requirements.

8, Q: Why some companies are charging tuition fees by a third, neither MFA, nor FUTURA?

A: The machine trouble due to credit card.
Court Trustee questions: credit card machine cycle of failure? Approximately how long fault again? The third company closed tuition fees are to go back to MFA or FUTURA?

A: The two companies have more than back.

Trustee asked: to show proof of your books for more than the fees collected have been transferred back.

A: The books in school.

Trustee asked: I want to arrange a time to turn back to the books of the collection of tuition fees for the record.

All the questions during the hearing the fundamental around "Where is our money?" "The debtor shall produce the relevant financial documents and books to prove the authenticity of bankruptcy,"! "Schools already appeared wages financing, taxes, lack of rent checks bounce and other serious financial problems, why should masterpiece of false advertising in the media to deceive us? And in a variety of promotional programs deceive the guise of a huge tuition fees received in advance under the post-collapse? ! "

MOTECITO school teachers and staff are focused principally on the question, "wages financing, taxes" as well.

**************************

To all parents, if you remember Trisha Zhang in a variety of media, using the most impressed by the language of his parents, tell us how to educate their children, if you have kept their commitment to the newspaper ads, control reality, you will better understand the "crook "means.

Let our comprehensive commitment to their ad, and recalls:

Montecito School in the press, radio, television, advertising hype, they are high school students the following commitments: to participate in Portfolio of professional courses that they can help students to apply, interview and successfully taking the world's top elite; for adults, their commitment to vocational training designer: After graduating from the University of hair Vocational Certificate of Education, designers certificate, ensure that there are generous salary of work, the school is applying for undergraduate university diplomas issued qualification; of primary school children commitment: to develop their intellectual resources to prepare for future applications for a good school; right commitment to foreign students: to participate in Montecito English preparatory classes is tantamount to admission by many universities at the same time without the TOEFL exam will be able to go directly to undergraduate university studies; Montecito schools have been more than 30 years of history, Hollywood studios and schools, co-training personnel, etc. and so on. These ads are indeed attractive to bring in business schools in Montecito, thousands of families a better future for our children and made the decision of the exorbitant tuition fees, these expensive tuition fees in the present period of economic downturn exudes a sense of heavy, for each families are a big burden.
Montecito School owners deceptive advertising for these families and the kids weave a beautiful dream, so that all parents believe: the kids are working hard we will have a better future and life.

In these households, there are many couples are working families, some are self-employed owners, either the husband had died of a single mother, because no one paid enough money for tuition fees, many people use credit cards to pay tuition fees, there are many families own homes re-mortgaged to the bank, with the second loan money to pay children's school fees.
Since the collapse of MOTECITO schools, children's dreams are shattered, and parents for their children's education investment was misappropriated. Rights protection in the ensuing litigation process because of the cultural background of the relationship between the Chinese community so that our activist efforts greatly reduced:
Some parents say: I and MONTECITO the school signed a "no refund" contract can only be considered bad luck.
Kind-hearted people, please carefully look at what you and the school signed a contract: Learning what and how many teaching hours --- is the responsibility of the school, the teaching hours to pay the corresponding fees charged --- is the responsibility of the parents. "No Refund" the original intent of the tuition fees is this: When the school side to honor its commitments in the contract the parents (or students) party caused the breach of contract, the school can "non-refundable." After the closure of schools, the school can not deliver the contract's commitment to teaching hours (ie: breach of contract), "no refund" and naturally, can not be established. The contract is to protect the rights and interests of both parties, and supervision responsibilities to fulfill the obligations of both parties, otherwise it is not a contract but a robber.
Some parents said: hearings and legal proceedings are not available, the school owners as early as the Pao Lu.
This phenomenon is most willing to see the MOTECITO owners, which means that we give up our rights.
If these parents have more legal knowledge or more concerned about their e-mail and litigation MOTECITO site
Will know: They are now afraid not Paolu because, according to bankruptcy proceedings the party must be personally attended the hearing and answer the question of creditors. Not as good as at home with their grievances to the scene asked them face to face, please exercise your legal rights. More recently, two hearings, please actively participate:
The debtor: MFA
9/30/2009 10:00 am in Courtroom 1375, 13th Flr., Edward Roybal Fed. Bldg 255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
The debtor: FUTURA
10/07/2009 Time: 10:30 am
Location: Courtroom 1375, 13th Flr., Edward Roybal Fed. Bldg
255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Some parents say: someone Chutou discuss fair, not bad I am a human being.
Yes ah, if every parent thinks this way, without these volunteers and the efforts of some parents there is no effect of today's counter-attack. Please recall that every parent: When the children a normal class, we have seen their growth and see the children smile, even if we burdened with a heavy investment in education feel happy. When the school closes down, we saw the eyes of disappointed kids, we heard the children say with a resigned sigh, this should not belong to them is a sigh of disappointment and heartache so that we parents. To this end, we must protect our children and their rights, such a solemn activism should take the wind ship?
We understand that many busy parents, many parents can not take leave to participate in the activities of the present case, please make some work for the case of parents who do not care about, we need to take the overall situation clear on our goals, as more of a force-oriented cases.
With the progress of the case, "the whereabouts of school fees" has become the focus of the case, MONTECITO the school's financial documents and books have also become an important case evidence, but the court has made it clear TRUSTEE answer: to go through the necessary legal procedures before they can let the other party to surrender books. While we understand that "Yes, non-" But we are not legal professionals, are not allowed to figure out the line between reasonable and lawful processing steps in time with the case, we should hire legal professionals to help us, not missing an opportunity.
Please parents as much as possible to attend September 30 and October 7 hearing, please spoken English good parents, we have summarized the key issues and to question the debtor.
Make our voice heard, to safeguard our interests!

Parents: KELLY

Notice of U.S. Trustee's Motion to Dismiss or Convert Case

2009-09-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

(1) Debtor: Futura Education Inc.
Notice is hereby given that a hearing in this case will be held at:

Date: 10/07/2009
Time: 10:30 am
Location: Courtroom 1375, 13th Flr., Edward Roybal Fed. Bldg
255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

(2) Debtor : Montecito Fine Arts Inc.
Notice is hereby given that a hearing in this case will be held at:

Date: 9/30/2009
Time: 10:30 am
Location: Courtroom 1375, 13th Flr., Edward Roybal Fed. Bldg
255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(1) 债务人: Futura Education Inc.
听证会日期为：

Date: 10/07/2009
Time: 10:30 am
Location: Courtroom 1375, 13th Flr., Edward Roybal Fed. Bldg
255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, Ca 90012

(2) 债务人 : Montecito Fine Arts Inc.
听证会日期为：

Date: 9/30/2009
Time: 10:30 am
Location: Courtroom 1375, 13th Flr., Edward Roybal Fed. Bldg
255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, Ca 90012

Information Following From Montecito Fine Arts Inc Hearing

2009-09-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

(1) Here is the procedure to request a copy of an audio CD of the proceedings.

You must provide 1 CD RW/CD R Disk and deliver (or mail) it to office of the US Trustee

Address is 725 S. Figueroa St., 26th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017

You need to provide the following information when you deliver the CD

Trustee’s name: Dare Law

Chapter 11

Date of Hearing: Sep. 21

Case Name: Montecito Fine Arts Inc.

Case Number: 2:09-bk-31201-AA

- There is no charge for making copies of the CD’s. It will take 3 to 5 working days to process the request. You may pick up the CD’s when ready.

(2) Below is the contact information for US Trustee. You can send mail or emails to Dare Law to report any information, subjects for investigation, or questions related to the case.

Name: Dare Law

Address: 725 S. Figueroa St., Suite 2600

Los Angeles, CA 90017

Tel: 213-894-4925

Fax: 213-894-2603

Email: dare.law@usdoj.gov

(3) Not sure whether you received a letter either from court or attorney Foroozandeh. That is regarding motions filed by US Trustee in order to ensure there is no further delay in the required schedules being filed. Please attend the following hearings and report to the judge if you would like to address your concerns.

Title: Notice of U.S. Trustee's Motion to Dismiss or Convert Case

(1) Debtor: Futura Education Inc.
Notice is hereby given that a hearing in this case will be held at:

Date: 10/07/2009
Time: 10:30 am
Location: Courtroom 1375, 13th Flr., Edward Roybal Fed. Bldg
255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, Ca 90012

(2) Debtor : Montecito Fine Arts Inc.
Notice is hereby given that a hearing in this case will be held at:

Date: 9/30/2009
Time: 10:30 am
Location: Courtroom 1375, 13th Flr., Edward Roybal Fed. Bldg
255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, Ca 90012

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

各位：
如果你想了解会议的详细情况，你可以向US Trustee 要一份会议录音CD，申请方式如下：

你必须给US Trustee 一个 CD RW盘，请送达或邮寄给US Trustee 办公室，地址： 725 S. Figueroa St., 26th Floor,
Los Angeles, CA 90017 。并注明：

Trustee’s name: Dare Law

Chapter 11

听证会日期: Sep. 21

Case Name: Montecito Fine Arts Inc.

Case Number: 2:09-bk-31201-AA

这份CD是不收费的，复制CD需要3-5个工作日（当你申请后），CD复制完后你可以去取。

2、如果你有任何问题或与此案件有关的新发现可以给US Trustee Dare Law 发邮件，以下是 Dare的联系方式：

Name: Dare Law

Address: 725 S. Figueroa St., Suite 2600 Los Angeles, CA 90017

Tel: 213-894-4925

Fax: 213-894-2603
Email: dare.law@usdoj.gov

3、以下是下一次听证会的日期：

主题：: U.S. Trustee's 关于案件变更或取消的听证会通知

(1) 债务人: Futura Education Inc.
听证会日期为：

Date: 10/07/2009
Time: 10:30 am
Location: Courtroom 1375, 13th Flr., Edward Roybal Fed. Bldg
255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, Ca 90012

(2) 债务人 : Montecito Fine Arts Inc.
听证会日期为：

Date: 9/30/2009
Time: 10:30 am
Location: Courtroom 1375, 13th Flr., Edward Roybal Fed. Bldg
255 E. Temple St., Los Angeles, Ca 90012

Meeting of Creditors for Montecito Fine Arts, Inc. Sept.21,2009

2009-09-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

Sept. 21, 2009, 11 am, Meeting of Creditors for Montecito Fine Arts, Inc.
The address is:

725 S Figueroa St., Room 2610,
Los Angeles, CA 90017.
Please stand up for your right and let the Trustee know that we were misled into paying ten thousands of dollars in unreimbursed tuition."

Documents:
Futura_BK_Proof_of_Claims_Deadline.pdf
Montecito_BK_ProofClaimsDeadline.pdf
Futura_BK_NoticeStatusConf.pdf

2009年9月21日，早上11点，Montecito Fine Arts, Inc.债主会议

无论您多忙，也请务必参加b和c的会议。地址是725 S Figueroa St., Room 2610, Los Angeles, CA 90017. 请维护您的权利，告诉托管人我们因为被误导而付出了几万块未退还的学费。

Information Following From the First Creditors' Meeting

2009-09-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

All,

It is great that lots of parents [and former MFA employees] appeared in the office of the United States Trustee this afternoon. The meeting took 2.5 hours and went well. We, the creditors (parents, the former staff of MFA) asked lots of good questions. If you want to know what happened at the meeting today, you can make a request for a copy of the audio CD from the US Trustee. Below is the list of procedings.

- You must provide 1 CD-R Disk and deliver (or mail) it to the office of the US Trustee
The Address is 725 S. Figueroa St., 26th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017
- You need to provide the following information when you deliver the CD

Trustee’s name: Gary Baddin
Chapter 11
Date of Hearing: Sep. 17
Case Name: Futura Education Inc.
Case Number: 2:09-bk-31217-AA

- There is no charge for making copies of the CD’s. It will take 3 to 5 working days to process the request. You can pick up the CD’s when ready.

Meanwhile, there are few things I’d like to share with everyone.

1. During the meeting, parents indicated that we never received any meeting notices from the debtor. The US trustee said that creditors/parents should send their personal email addresses to Attorney Foroozandeh who will send you the next meeting schedule for the meeting of the Futura Education Inc. creditors. (That’s the debtor’s obligation.) Here is the email for attorney Foroozandeh.

Email: majidf@foroozandeh-law.com

By the way, please DO NOT send the questions you would like to ask the debtors. We should ask them at the next court meeting in order to get their instant reactions.

2. Below is the contact information for the US Trustee. You can send mail or emails to Gary Baddin to report any informaion, subjects for investgation, or questions related to the case. Please do not call him unless it is urgent.

U.S. Department of Justice
Name: Gary Baddin (Bankruptcy Analyst)
Address: 725 S. Figueroa St., Suite 2600
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Tel: 213-894-1450
Fax: 213-894-2603
Email: gary.baddin@usdoj.gov

3. For creditors’ committee solicitation. Please fill out the form and fax it to 213-894-2603 by writing the following case number on the form if you’d like to be in the committee. The Trustee will select three representatives work with legal consul who provided from BK. Please be aware that we are unable to nominate the representatives. The better way for us is to hire our own attorney to do the diligent work.
Case number for Futura Education Inc is 2:09-bk-31217-AA
Case number for Montecito Fine Arts Inc is 2:09-bk-312101-AA

4. Some of parents suggested having another meeting. Below is the schedule.
Date: 7:30pm on Sep 19, 2009
Address: 9119 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City, CA 91780
Agenda: To fill out the forms for “Proof of Claim” and creditors’ committee solicitation

5. There is a meeting of creditors for Montecito Fine Arts Inc. It will be held at 11:00am on Sep. 21 at 725 S. Figueroa St., Room 2610, Los Angeles. Please attend the meeting and speak up your questions.

Lynn

各位：
9月17日下午很多家长出席了听证会，会议持续了2.5个小时，效果很好。我们（债权人）向债务人询问了很多关键问题，如果
你想了解会议的详细情况，你可以向US Trustee 要一份会议录音CD，申请方式如下：

你必须给US Trustee 一个 CD RW盘，请送达或邮寄给US Trustee 办公室，地址： 725 S. Figueroa St., 26th Floor, Los Angeles,
CA 90017 。并注明：

Trustee’s name: Gary Baddin
Chapter 11
Date of Hearing: Sep. 17
Case Name: Futura Education Inc.
Case Number: 2:09-bk-31217-AA

这份CD是不收费的，复制CD需要3-5个工作日（当你申请后），CD复制完后你可以去取。在此，有几件事情告诉大家：

1、听证会上很多家长提出没有收到听证会日期的通知，US Trustee 说：家长们可以把自己的E-MAIL发给债务人的律师

Foroozandeh.他将会把下一次听证会的日期E-MAIL给你（债权人），这是债务人的责任。律师的E-MAIL:
majidf@foroozandeh-law.com.

*** 顺便提醒一下：请不要把你的问题发给债务人的律师，请在听证会上当面向他们提问，不要给他们提前准备的时间。

2、如果你有任何问题或与此案件有关的新发现可以给US Trustee GARY 发邮件，以下是Gary的联系方式：

Name: Gary Baddin
Address: 725 S. Figueroa St., Suite 2600
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Tel: 213-894-1450
Fax: 213-894-2603

Email: gary.baddin@usdoj.gov

3、本邮件的附件内有债权人委员会的申请表，如果你愿意出任此委员会成员，请填写此表并注明以下两个案件的号码:

Case number for Futura Education Inc is 2:09-bk-31217-AA
Case number for Montecito Fine Arts Inc is 2:09-bk-312101-AA 传真到： 213-894-2603 Trustee (托管人）会选出3个代表参与

这两个案件的法律程序，我们自己不可以选这三个代表。 **最好的方式是：我们聘请自己的律师去做这些专业的法律工作。

4、有些家长建议我们再一次集会，日期为： 7:30pm on Sep 19, 2009

地址: 9119 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City, CA 91780

集会内容：填写 “索赔表“；讨论有关“债权人委员会“等事宜。

5、9月21日上午11点有MFA的听证会，地址：725 S Figueroa St., Room 2610, Los Angeles,请大家届时参加并向

债务人当面提出你的问题。

Futura Education, Inc - Court Meeting of Creditors - Sept 17th

2009-09-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

"All,

Just wanted to remind everyone that the meeting of creditors for Futura Education Inc will be held at 2:00pm on September 17th, 2009. Here is the address:

725 S. Figueroa St. Room 2610, Los Angeles, CA 90017

I highly encourage all parents, teachers and former staff to attend the meeting. As far as I know, the debtor will appear at the meeting and answer the questions about their assets and liabilities. We, as creditors can attend the meeting and are permitted to ask the debtor questions as well. The purpose in appearing at the meeting are to speak up and make the followings impression:

We suspect that assets are concealed or have been transferred.
We have all been defrauded by the owner of MFA.
We were misled into paying tens of thousands of dollars in unreimbursed tuition

Some of parents want to car pool together to the court. We would meet at 1:00pm in Arcadia Public Library. Let me know with any questions.

Lynn"

"位：

再一次提醒 FUTURA EDUCATION INC 的各位债权人，在2009年9月17日下午 2 点到以下地址开会：

725 S. Figueroa St. Room 2610, Los Angeles, CA 90017

我呼吁所有的家长和老师、员工共同参加这次会议。据我所知，债务人在这次会议中将会对于他们的资产和责任做出某些应答，我们

所有债权人可以在这次会议中向债务人提出问题，我们的中心议题是：

1、我们怀疑他们（债务人）的资产已经被隐藏或转移；

2、MFA 的业主欺骗了我们；

3、我们是在被诱骗的情况下支付了MFA 业主"恕不退款“的高额学费。
选择"共同乘车" 方式去法庭的家长们,请在9月17日下午一点(1:00pm)在 Arcadia 公共图书馆集合. 如有任何问题请与我联系.

LYNN"

Bankruptcy Schedule - CHANGE OF DATE

2009-09-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

!!!DATES HAVE CHANGED!!!

The hearing dates have changed:

This is the latest from the case documents:

Majid Foroozandeh, Esq.

Law Offices of Foroozandeh, APC

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

In re
MONTECITO FINE ARTS, INC.
dba Montecito High School of Art, Science and Design

Case No.: 2:09-bk-31201-AA

NOTICE OF CONTINUANCE OF
STATUS CONFERENCE MEETING
AND PROCEDURE FOR APPROVAL
OF DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
HERETO

Original Date
September 9, 2009 at 11 :30 A.M.

Rescheduled Date
September 30, 2009 at 11 :30 A.M.

TO THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRUSTEE, ALL CREDITORS
COMMITTEES AND THEIR COUNSELS, IF ANY. ATTACHED HEREWITH THE
COPIES OF THE PROCEDURE FOR APPROVAL OF DISCLOSURE STATEMENT.
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Status Conference originally set for September 9,
2009 at 11:30 A.M. has been continued. The new date and time is:
September 30, 2009 at 11 :30 A.M.

We will try to update the information as soon as the other court dates are known.

"Proof of Claim" Forms - EVERYONE (Parents,Staff,Vendors)

2009-08-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

"All,

This is quite urgent. [Please complete by next week!!!] I’ve linked to three attachments regarding “Proof of Claim” (see the remark below) which I got it today. Please fill in the “Proof of Claim” form(s) based on your situation.

Futura Edu.: Case Number: 2:09-31217-AA: That’s for everyone EXCEPT high school claims.
Montecito: Case Number: 2:09-31201-AA. That’s FOR high school claims.
Instructions: That’s the instructions for “Proof of Claim”

All creditors (including parents, former employees, vendors) need to file “Proof of Claim” to Bankruptcy Court and Attorney Foroozandeh. The addresses are listed below.

1. Address of the Bankruptcy Clerk's Office:
U. S. Bankrupcty Court
255 East Temple Street, Room 940,
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Telephone number: 213−894−3118
Hours Open: 9:00 AM − 4:00 PM

2. Majid Foroozandeh
Law Office of Foroozandeh, APC
9891 Irvine Center Dr. Suite 130
Irvine, CA 92618
Tel:949-336-8505
Email: majidf@foroozandeh-law.com

Lynn

Remark: A proof of claim is a form used by the creditor to indicate the amount of the debt owed by the debtor on the date of the bankruptcy filing. The creditor must file the form with the clerk of the same bankruptcy court in which the bankruptcy case was filed."

Please complete the relevant form, and enclose COPIES of receipts, invoices, documents, contracts or anything else to prove your claim. If you cannot enclose documents, please explain why they are not available. You can also write and attach a summary of your case. (Do not attach originals!)

FuturaEdu.pdf

Montecito.pdf

Instructions.pdf

各位，

紧急！请看三个我今天刚刚收到的关于“索赔证明”的附件（请看下面的注解）。请根据你的情况填写“索赔证明”表。

1．Futura Edu: 案件号：2:09-31217-AA。这是学生作品部的学生要填写的，比如“3维动画课程”的学生。
2．Montecito：案件号：2:09-31201-AA。这是高中部的学生要填写的。
3．说明：这是“索赔证明”表的填写说明。

所有债权人都需要对破产法庭和Foroozandeh律师提交“索赔证明”。地址如下：

１．破产办公室的地址：

U. S. Bankrupcty Court
255 East Temple Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90012
电话：213−894−3118
工作时间：早9点 − 下午4点

２． Majid Foroozandeh

9891 Irvine Center Dr. Ste 130
Irvine, CA 92618
电话:949-336-8505
电子邮件地址: majidf@foroozandeh-law.com

Lynn

注解：“索赔证明”是债权人说明在债务人申请破产之时所欠债权人的债务数额。债权人必须向提出申请破产的同一家法庭提交这个表格。

Meeting - Aug 29th, 2009

2009-08-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

"All,

Let's have a meeting to address the issues. This will be the last chance volunteers can help you to fill in forms. Please be more active and attend the meeting.

Date: 2:00pm on Saturday, Aug 29th, 2009
Address: 9119 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City. CA 91780
Agenda:

1. Fill in the formal complaint form to 'County of LA of Consumer Affairs'. Let me reiterate this. The action is FREE.
2. File "Proof of Claim" to court and ....
3. Pro Bono

L.Lee"

Urgent - Please File Complaints to Consumer Affairs

2009-08-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

To all parents, vendors and former employees and staff...

Time is running out, but it is not too late to file a complaint to Consumer Affairs.

Please just do it if you have not already done so!!

It doesn’t matter whether you have got your money back from your credit card companies. Just describe the facts – and what happened to you regarding Montecito.

Download complaint form here:
http://dca.lacounty.gov/Forms/CAComplaint.pdf

and send to:

Mr. Joe Johnson
Senior Investigator
County of Los Angeles
Department of Consumer Affairs
500 W Temple St, B-96
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Direct: 213-974-9955
Fax 213-617-1431

At the very least, please email your details and experiences to Mr. Joe Johnson:

JJohnson@dca.lacounty.gov

现在向消费者协会提出投诉还不晚。如果你们还没有投诉现在就去投诉。不管你的信用卡公司是否已经把钱还给你了，你只要陈述事实，就是在你身上发生的关于Montecito的事实就可。

Bankruptcy Schedule - Please ALL ATTEND

2009-08-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

!!!!THE DATES AND ADDRESS BELOW HAVE CHANGED!!!!!!

(The dates bellow might change if the bankruptcy attorney successfully files for an extention. We will do all we can to let everyone know if the dates change.)

Message from L.Lee:

"I am attaching 3 documents filed in the bankruptcies cases for Futura and Montecito Fine Arts. Based on these documents, the bankruptcy court scheduled the following dates:

Sept. 9, 2009, 11:30 am, Status Conference !!!DATES HAVE CHANGED!!!&!!!ADDRESS HAS CHANGED!!!
Sept. 17, 2009, 2 pm, Meeting of Creditors for Futura Education Inc.
Sept. 21, 2009, 11 am, Meeting of Creditors for Montecito Fine Arts, Inc.

No matter how busy you are, please schedule to attend the second and third meeting marked in BOLD. The address is:

725 S Figueroa St., Room 2610,

Los Angeles, CA 90017.

Please stand up for your right and let the Trustee know that we were misled into paying ten thousands of dollars in unreimbursed tuition."

Documents:

Futura_BK_Proof_of_Claims_Deadline.pdf

Montecito_BK_ProofClaimsDeadline.pdf

Futura_BK_NoticeStatusConf.pdf

附上3个关于Futura and Montecito Fine Arts申请破产的文件。根据这些文件，得到如下破产法庭的开庭日期：
!!!!THE DATES AND ADDRESS BELOW HAVE CHANGED!!!!!!

a. 2009年9月9日，早上11:30，案情会议!!DATES HAVE CHANGED!!!&!!!ADDRESS HAS CHANGED!!!

b. 2009年9月17日，下午2点，Futura Education Inc. 债主会议

c. 2009年9月21日，早上11点，Montecito Fine Arts, Inc.债主会议

无论您多忙，也请务必参加b和c的会议。地址是725 S Figueroa St., Room 2610, Los Angeles, CA 90017. 请维护您的权利，告诉托管人我们因为被误导而付出了几万块未退还的学费。

Documents:

Futura_BK_Proof_of_Claims_Deadline.pdf

Montecito_BK_ProofClaimsDeadline.pdf

Futura_BK_NoticeStatusConf.pdf

!!!PLEASE CHECK FOR LATEST POSTS FOR NEW DATES AND ADDRESSES!!!

Meeting Update - Former MFA Employees

2009-08-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

We want to make sure that everyone is aware that the meeting on Sunday, August 23rd will also be very useful for former MFA employees and staff. And we would encourage you to attend and participate.

We think it will be useful and interesting for us all to meet on Sunday to discuss progress and the next steps.

Make a note! Parents' Meeting on Sunday, Aug 23rd, 2009

2009-08-21T00:58:00.000-07:00

Message from L.Lee:

"All,

A meeting will be scheduled as follows. Please attend the meeting if possible.

Date: 10:00am on Aug 23, 2009
Address: 9119 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City. CA 91780
Agendas:

Complaint Form:

We need you to file a formal complaint. If you haven’t done it, please bring three copies of contract, payment and receipts with you. Volunteers will help you to fill in the complaint form.

L.Lee"

请家长们注意！我们将于本周星期日8月23号开会。请大家踊跃参加！

时间: 10:00am on Aug 23, 2009
地址: 9119 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City. CA 91780
内容：消费者投诉表

请还没填投诉表的家长于开会当天带上当初交费的收据，凭证，或合同。届时会有义工帮大家填表。

L.Lee

PS。投诉表将呈交给洛县负责消费者权益的部门，为公众服务，无任何收费。

Parents' Meeting on Aug 16th, 2009

2009-08-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

Posted by L.Lee:

"All,

We made progress. Joe Johnson received 85 forms but it’s far away from our target. Please do it and send your complaint as soon as possible. Meanwhile, I’d like to host a meeting as followings. Please schedule to attend the meeting.

Date: 10:00am on Aug 16, 2009

Address: 9119 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City. CA 91780

Agenda:

(1) Complaint Form:

Have you done it? Do you have any concerns about the complaint form? Please attend the meeting on Sunday; volunteers will help you to fill in the complaint form. Please be sure to bring three copies of contract, payment and receipts.

(2) Legal action against Montecito due to Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

(3) Next step we will take.

Lynn"

我们的案情有了新的进展，截至今天 JOE JOHNSON 收到了85份控告表,但离我们的目标仍然相差很远(学校现有1千多名学生),请将填写好的控告表及附件尽快传真给JOE 后再邮寄给他 ATTN:JOE JOHNSON.
我将召集一个会议,请届时参加.
时间:8月16日上午10点
地点:9119 LAS TUNAS DR. TEMPLE CITY CA91780
议程:
1,控告表:如果您不知道怎样填写控告表,请届时来参加会议,我们的义工们会帮您填写.请务必将MONTECITO学费的收据,合约, 付款证明分别复印一式三份一同带来.
2,针对MONTECITO的破产申请我们将采取何种法律行动.
3,下一步怎样做.

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

2009-08-13T22:17:00.000-07:00

Posted by L.Lee:

"All,

Just want to let you know that I received an email from the attorney, Maid Foroozandeh who represents MFA and Futura Education Inc for Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Please see the attachment for your reference. [It is here in the comments section.] Here is what I have consulted with the lawyer.

Chapter 11 is quite complex and expensive. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is to let the company continue to run with protection from the creditors, but with the oversight of a bankruptcy judge. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a liquidation of your company.

Of the companies that file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, only 1 in 10 survives the procedure. And the one lucky company only survives because it has a ton of cash when it files. When the company runs of cash completely, the judge has no choice, but to order a liquidation of the company. It means most of the cases for Chapter 11 will cover into a Chapter 7.

So, let’s continue to submit the complaint form to consumer affairs. We’ll get actual notice of the proceedings from the Court. Meanwhile, we need to take legal actions against MFA and Futura Edu. Inc. as soon as possible. Please join us to fight for the justice.

Lynn"

"All,各位：
我刚收到montecito 学校ED的律师发来的他申请破产11章的邮件。以下是我和我的律师交谈后的情况：
破产11章是非常昂贵和复杂的：公司可以继续运作、保护申请破产者不被债权人打扰，但是要在破产法官的监督下。破产第7章
申请破产者将会甩掉所有的债务和资产。
所有申请破产11章的公司只有十分之一的可以通过，对于没有足够资金和资产的公司，法官将会把申请破产11章改为
申请破产第7章。
所以请个家长继续填写“complaint form" 并尽快传真、邮寄给joe johnson。我们将会收到从法院寄来得文件，在这期间，
我们要尽快实施法律行动，请大家加入我们的诉讼。
目前montecito ED申请的只是两个公司的破产，这个破产与他个人没有任何关系。我们的钱已经进入他的私人腰包，将空壳
公司拿来破产是他的又一阴谋。如果“诈欺”案成立，ED 的破产阴谋就不会得逞，他仍然要对所有的债务负责任，这是我们唯一

可以清算ED 机会。"

Monty's review of a sad website

2009-08-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

It seems that sooner or later you will be directed to a rather sad website, set up (it is assumed) by the shameless and hapless Mr. Edgar Kuckelkorn.

It just repeats the filing for bankruptcy notice you will have seen within our comments section. It uses the language of a fake campaign to keep the school open, when in reality, it is probably the work of a single person and his attorney, desperately trying to limit the damage to the tiny group responsible for the sadness in which we all find ourselves.

The phony sentiment of a fake campaign to save the school is clearly a cynical attempt to try to influence the outcome of the filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy. If it is believed by the hearing that there is an effort to keep the school going, then who knows, it might succeed. You all know how staggering this is in its hideous manipulation of the truth. But it seems that with the advantage of a pathological disdain for reality, a person like this can do anything in the pursuit of personal gain.

The website insults the integrity of every fee paying parent and every hard working member of staff, by suggesting that parents did not pay for tuition, and that it is the parents' fault that Mr. Edgar Kuckelkorn's wonderful 'business' failed. It omits the news reports of an estimated $6 million in tuition fees being collected, rents not being paid for 6 months, staff not paid for months, taxes not paid for months, vendors not paid for months. Can you, dear reader, see a problem with this picture?

I hope Kuckelkorn's website doesn't change before you get a chance to review the page - it is quite revealing that the only face featured on the website is the grinning face of Mr. Ed Kuckelkorn, which shamelessly appears prominently; the only smiling face left in the whole saga. (And yet again, it's another fascinating insight into the mind of such a man.)

We at Sue Montecito have no wish to be a part of the propaganda and the smoke screen of a self promoting egotist, so we will be vigilant to weed out direct references to his misleading and insulting website that we humbly consider a miserable and tragic sham.

Monty

Sue Montecito - Comments

2009-08-12T21:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Mr. Kuckelkorn and his attorney for contributing enthusiastically to the website. It is interesting to see how the case will be played from their point of view.

Although we welcome comments and contributions to the site, we feel that posting the same lengthy post 15 times doesn't really make much sense. To keep the website compact and easily viewed, we will delete duplicates from now on - but in this case we will leave the multiple postings as testimony to the state of mind of Mr. Edgar Kuckelkorn.

Meanwhile, please take a look at the various news links (Fox 11, and "External News Articles") listed on the left side of this website for more angles on the case.

We would also like to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to participate by reporting all you can to the authorities and investigators. (See forms listed on this site.) We also welcome any new ideas on how to push forward.

Monty

Parents' Update - Chinese Translation

2009-08-12T20:52:00.000-07:00

各位：

因为很多家长读写英文有困难现在我把lynn的最近重要资讯翻译后发给你们，随后在suemontecito.blogspot.com网站上我们也会逐渐放中文的消息，这些都需要义工帮助。

请精通中英文的家长和学生们都来帮助我们，让更多的人了解案件的进展。

以下消息来源：lynn

各位：

至今天早上为止，Joe Johnson 只收到了十余份Complaint form,这对于我们来说不是一个好消息，如果没有足够的控告他不会关注我们的案件，控告的人数和金额决定了

Joe Johnson处理这个案件的方式。Joe Johnson是资深调查员目前他在处理我们的案件（不收费），请大家立即将填写好的Complaint form 和支付学费的收据或其他支付方式的证据

入学登记表等一同传真给JOE 的办公室 213-617-1431

请注明：ATTN: JOE JOHNSON 。以上文件传真后请速寄往 Joe Johnson的办公室。

*** 请不要忘记在Complaint form上签字！请到以下网站下载COMPLAINT FORM 免费！如有任何问题请联系一下义工取得帮助。免费！

Lynn Lee - lynnlee1266@gmail.com 626-215-6152
Susan Lee - susan@charminternational.com 626-203-6398
Wendy Shiao - wshiao11@yahoo.com
Frank Guiltinan - fguiltinan@yahoo.com 626-421-5187
Monika Ying Song - monikaying@yahoo.com 818-956-5149

Lynn

Joe Johnson
Senior Investigator
County of Los Angeles
Department of Consumer Affairs
500 W Temple St, B-96
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Direct: 213-974-9955
Fax 213-617-1431

Download complaint form here:
http://dca.lacounty.gov/Forms/CAComplaint.pdf

Appeal for Support - Arcadia City Council Meeting

2009-08-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

Message from Monika.S

"Sue Montecito Ensemble

I contacted the City of Arcadia regarding our Ensemble. We are expecting [hoping for!] Thousands of people to show up. About 10 Students and Parents will speak at the meeting.
Everyone has 5 Minutes to talk at the meeting in front of Television.
PLEASE MAKE POSTERS AND SIGNS !!!
We want the whole world to hear our voice, get our message, and support us to catch the EVILS.

Can some staff and Teachers volunteer to give speeches? Let me know, email or call.

Reminder:
All Volunteers should be taking action now - contacting all major media. We want as many journalists as possible to be there.

It's our SHOW TIME! SHOW THE WORLD WE WANT JUSTICE!!! WE WILL NOT GIVE UP !!!

Tell everyone you know and ask them to come to support us. Together we are strong!

feel free to contact me if you have sugestions."

Monika.S
monikaying@yahoo.com

Minutes from Parents' Meeting, Aug 8th

2009-08-10T00:27:00.000-07:00

Forwarded by L.Lee:

"Below are the meeting minutes on Aug. 8.

1. The first priority for us is to file a complaint form to the County of Los Angeles Dept. of Consumer Affairs. Very few have even filed a formal complaint. Below is an email and fax number for Joe Johnson. He is a senior investigator who is handling our case. [The 'COMPLAINT FORM' link is also listed below.]

JJohnson@dca.lacounty.gov
FAX# 1-213 617 1431

http://lacountydca.com/ComplaintForm.html

If you do not know how to do it, please contact the following volunteers.

Lynn Lee - lynnlee1266@gmail.com
Susan Lee - susan@charminternational.com
Wendy Shiao - wshiao11@yahoo.com
Frank Guiltinan - fguiltinan@yahoo.com
Monika Ying Song - monikaying@yahoo.com

2. Monika will check the schedule about Monrovia’s city council meeting. All parents will meet there to present our needs. It could grab the attention from the public if we can get the media there. But we should to put our energy in the right place in order to get the greatest effect.

3. During the meeting, someone suggested getting a free attorney to do the lawsuit. It won’t hurt if there is anyone who willing to help out.

4. Lynn will send out the contact list to volunteers. Volunteers will aggressively contact the parents.

5. Please notify us immediately if anyone you know paid the tuition to Montecito in June and July.

L.Lee"

"Let's go to Arcadia city council meeting"

2009-08-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

'Sue Montecito' is passing on the following email message by request:

"So let's go to Arcadia's meeting

Time: Aug 18th, 6:00 pm
Where: 240 W Huntington Dr, Arcadia, CA 91007

I'll call them to let them add this to the agenda. At the meeting our representatives will make speeches.

Let's show our enthusiasm and get BIG attention from the public.
All Montecito's creditors, staff, teachers, students and parents, let's go and fight the evil until we find JUSTICE.
We need to send out the message to the world that these evils are somewhere. We have to find them.
Everyone should go this ensemble and who ever we can find.
All major Television stations, Radio stations and Newspapers will show up.
We want get as much as possible governmantal support and support from everywhere in the world.

People pay taxes to have a government. It has to work for people.

M.Song"

Sunday, 9th Aug - Proposed Voluntary Collection of Documents from Former Employees

2009-08-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

In a coordinated effort to get all the former employees' documents to the parents' attorney, the following has been posted:

"Hello everyone,

If you know anyone else who worked at MFA College of Design and didn't get paid, please email them or call them. Thank you.

-F"

This will be an opportunity to get everything together efficiently and confidentially.

Employees are requested for the following

Your Name
Address
Phone Number
Email Address
Amount owed by school

The following would be useful (three copies):
Full time staff:

Check Stubs
Bounced Checks

Part time staff, copies of:

Check stubs
Bounced checks
Work timetables.

Parents - Meeting on Saturday, Aug 8th

2009-08-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

The following meeting for parents has been proposed and arranged by L.Lee

"All,

Please schedule to attend the following meeting.

Date: 2:00pm on Aug. 8, 2009

Agenda:

To file a complaint to Dept of Consumer Affairs. Please bring three copies of proof of payments, receipts and three copies of any enrollment forms or contracts. Meanwhile, please print out your name, your kid’s name, mailing address, phone number and email address.
Bank Account Issue
How to make the team more efficient? We need to have more voluntary parents to participate in our action
Retainer agreement
Others….(to set up “suemontecito” Chinese website, to find out the Ads Montecito made in China, any payment made recently to Montecito…etc.)

-L.Lee"

Venue/Address details from:
lynnlee1266@gmail.com

Attention Parents! Message from LA Investigator

2009-08-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

This important message was passed on from L.Lee.

"I am the investigator looking into this matter. Please contact me to discuss. You can also have any other victims contact me.

Thank you."

Joe Johnson
Senior Investigator
County of Los Angeles
Department of Consumer Affairs
500 W Temple St, B-96
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Direct: 213-974-9955
Fax 213-617-1431

Download complaint form here:
http://dca.lacounty.gov/Forms/CAComplaint.pdf

Attention Unpaid Vendors

2009-08-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

This comment from J.Anderson opens another avenue of concern and also potential sources of evidence if vendors share details with the parents' legal action:

"I have not seen any specific mention of vendors getting ripped off- but I represent a company that has been trying to collect on a way past due invoice for months now. I'm just wondering how many other unpaid vendors are out there?"

Jim Anderson
jimanderson@premier.us
Premier Agendas, Inc.
2000 Kentucky Street
Bellingham, WA 98229

Small Claims Option for Employees

2009-08-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Message from R.L.

"If you are owed less than $7,500 you can also file for small claims. I found it to be a quite complicated process so I hired someone to help me. Apparently, if you make any mistakes on the paperwork, it could take a month to be returned to you and as we all know, we dont have much time here. If you wish to file a claim and would like help with it, you can call the person who helped me. Her name is Dottie: 951.263.1693, she is located in Montclair, CA. I believe its $35 for paperwork, $75 to file the claim in court and another $45 for the fee to have Nathan Paez served (he is listed as the agent). The $75 court fee and $45 serving fee is refunded once you've won your case.

If you would like more information on how to file yourself (without help) you can contact the alhambra courthouse at: 626.308.5521 (although I was given misinformation from a person at this number). You can also visit: lasuperiorcourt.org -> small claims -> general info.

R.L"

Message from Agent S. McCrory to Employees

2009-08-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

"Thank you and all your staff for sending me paystubs. I have a good sample, so if anybody hasn't sent their stubs yet, tell them it's okay.

If you get any more staff names, please send them on to me.

Also, some of your staff were talking about legal actions against your former employer for unpaid wages. Make sure people know about the Department of Industrial Relations; the phone number for them is (818) 901-5315 and they are located in Van Nuys at 6150 Van Nuys Blvd.

If your staff without stubs wants to figure out what taxes were deducted from their wages for California taxes, the best resource is our publication DE 44 (California Employers' Guide) which is at
http://www.edd.ca.gov/pdf_pub_ctr/de44-08.pdf for 2008 and
http://www.edd.ca.gov/pdf_pub_ctr/de44.pdf for 2009.

There are also withholding schedules and rates for our other taxes at
http://www.edd.ca.gov/Payroll_Taxes/Rates_and_Withholding.htm

our Taxpayer Assistance Center is at (888) 745-3886 and can give an overview of California payroll taxes if needed. If they do call that number, please make sure they specify that they already are dealing with Compliance Development Operations/Underground Economy Operations so that they do not send them onto us.

The IRS can be reached at 1-(800)-829-1040 if anybody has federal tax questions. A list of local IRS offices is here:
http://www.irs.gov/localcontacts/article/0,,id=98259,00.html

Agent S.McCrory"

smccrory@edd.ca.gov

Major Fraud Section - Complaint Form

2009-08-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

"Hi Everybody,

Attached is the DA form. Similar to the EDD case, we need to file it individually, so again download the form and fill it out then mail it. The complaint is not for unpaid wages. It is for the fraud that the owners did.

Here are the points that I will mention on my statement.:

The owner Ed [Kuckelkorn], Trisha [Zhang], and Nathan [Paez] collected more than 6 million dollars of tuition last year (according Trisha, one of the owners) , but they did not place the money for the school use. Money was taken away by the owners-Ed, Trisha, and Nathan.
They failed to pay employment tax which leads to employees' inability to receive Unemployment Benefit.
This is not the case of failed business, this is the case of owners defaulted parents, teachers, employees and running away.
I demand a chance of time and appointment to talk to the investigator in person.

Thank you.

The DA form can be obtained from

Los Angeles County District Attorney under Bureau of Investigation/Major Fraud link.

http://da.co.la.ca.us/pdf/fraudform.pdf

-S.W."

*UPDATE - please see the comments to this post for a suggestion on what to include with the above on your forms.

Comment on EDD from J.G.

2009-08-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

J.G.'s comment is repeated here for your information:

"I had filed the fraud claim online at the EDD website on Friday, the 31st. But I called Agent McCrory today, Monday, and she said I was the first person to call her.

She said she needs a few more people to actually call her, so she can interview several former employess over the phone for her fraud investigation.

And she really needs a few more of us to send her the copies of your paystubs showing withholding. She stressed just one copy of one of your paystubs, thats all.

So c'mon and call people!

-J.G"

Information Needed from Former Employees

2009-08-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

L.Lee has informed the staff that it will be very useful for the legal case if the following documents could be prepared and supplied by former employees of MFA to the case being prepared:

Your Name
Address
Phone Number
Email Address
Amount owed by school

The following would be useful (three copies):

Full time staff:

Check Stubs
Bounced Checks

Part time staff:

Check stubs
Bounced checks
Work timetables.

(The case needs to calculate the amount the school owes to the staff and teachers.)
It would be advisable for each campus to try to collect the above together, and deliver to L.Lee when possible. (lynnlee1266@gmail.com)

*UPDATE! Please see the more recent post, "Sunday, 9th Aug - Proposed Collection of Documents from Employees".
There will be a voluntary collection of copies at the library at the Arcadia Public Library, 20 W Duarte Rd, Arcadia, CA 91007.

Message from L.Lee to Former Employees

2009-08-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

"Who will be the representatives from the staff and teachers. As you know, parents won't take $300 from each staff at the beginning. If we encounter great difficulties in the finance for proceeding on the lawsuit, I might ask the staff and teachers to share the financial burden later. Is it okay with you?"

L.Lee (lynnlee1266@gmail.com)

Meeting Minutes on Aug 2

2009-08-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

The following minutes were sent to 'Sue Montecito' by L.Lee for your infomation.

Names have been truncated for publication.

(All emails and enquiries to lynnlee1266@gmail.com)

"All,
Thanks for taking your time to attend the meeting. Please review the minutes.

1. We are going to hire an attorney for a civil legal action. That’s a class lawsuit against Futura Education Inc, Montecito Fine Arts Inc, Trisha Zhang, Ed Kuckeljorn and Nethan Paez.
2. Not only a civil case we will file, but also a criminal case we will pursue.
3. The staff and teachers would like to join us against the school owner.
4. According to our experience, it won’t take too much charge from a crime attorney if DA takes our case. As you know, the criminal act needs to be proven with the evidence.
5. The civil attorney we will hire had the experice that represented a parent to sue Montecito and won a case. His charge will be $250 per hour.
6. We will collect $300 per family who willing to participate in the legal action. On the issue of a joint retainer for all the families, a total of $10,000 will be sufficient for the initiative. But it will take more money due to few years legal processes for the lawsuit.
7. We might get nothing after we win a case because there will be nothing left but ash.
8. There is a temporary former employees' website called “Sue Montecito”. Here is the link for your reference. http://suemontecito.blogspot.com/
9. Below are the actions we already took. We are waiting for the response from them.

Called LA County Consumer Protection Division
Contacted LA County DA
Contacted the Congressman, David Drier. Will get CA Dept of Education involved.

10. Due to the leader’s position, I won’t be responsible for the finance. We’ll have three parents to open a bank account to monitor and manage the money to pay for the attorney. Each check will request two signatures. Will notify everyone once we open the bank account.
11. Please encourage the victims to join this action with us. That’s all about education and justice.
12. We must have the payment at $300 per family and the following documentations for legal action. Please contact the following parents based on the area to send your documentation and payment if you haven’t provided it:

three copies of a contract
three copies of the receipt
print your name, your kid’s name, mailing address, phone number, email address and the detail about how many courses your kid have been taken

13. During the meeting, the following volunteers are committed to contact with parents and collect the documentation from the parents.

S.Lee - Pasadena
W.Shiao - Irvine
J.Xu - Diamond Bar
A.Chen - Temple City
G.Huang - Orange county
L.Li
K (available after Sep. 10)
J
V.Wan

Please let me know with any concerns.
Regards,
L."

(All emails and enquiries regarding the above to lynnlee1266@gmail.com)

Credit Card Payments Suggestion for Parents

2009-08-03T00:09:00.000-07:00

"If any one used credit card to pay tuition to Montecito, ask the credit company to dispute the payment since it is a fraud. Do it right away! It may work.

We used three cards and we just called them. Two of the three credit companies are going to try to stop the payment. We paid last year in November."

M.Ying

EDD - Clarification from S. Wann..

2009-08-02T19:01:00.000-07:00

"Hi

Teachers and staffs,

I reported to EDD Reporting Fraud Department. Ms. Selma took my report.

Here is what we need to do:

1. She is asking every teacher/staff to call her 1-800-528-1783 and fax her a copy of your pay stubs ( just one sample will be fine), her fax number is 1-916-227-2772 and attention to Selma. Her email address is smccrory@edd.ca.gov

2. Regarding your benefit: Make sure contact the UI and provide the copy of pay stubs to correct your earned wages.

I will also provide her a list of our Teachers/staffs, if you know any protfolio teachers or staffs who has the same situation please let me know, I will put her/him in the list. So they can start investigating.

-S"

Parents' Meeting on Aug 2nd, 2009

2009-08-02T17:13:00.000-07:00

Parents and former staff of MFA met and discussed potential future action.

IRS - Employees' Responsibilities

2009-08-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

VERY IMPORTANT! Do it!!

You have to complete the following to help make our situation into a fraud case.

Go to "Report Suspected Tax Fraud Activity" page

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=106778,00.html

You'll need to report the fraud using form, "3949-A"

Mail the completed form to:

Internal Revenue Service

Fresno, CA 93888

The IRS have a page explaining the tax situation if an employer doesn't pay employees' tax. You can check it out here.

http://www.irs.gov/compliance/enforcement/article/0,,id=106704,00.html

EDD - Employment Development Deptartment

2009-08-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

Reporting Fraud (see website here)

An EDD contact person, Ms.Selma, has requested that former employees contact her, and to possibly supply copies of pay stubs.

Phone: 1 (800) 528-1783

Fax: 1 (916) 227-2772 (Attn: Selma)

Email: smccrory@edd.ca.gov

You can also file online at:

https://eapply4ui.edd.ca.gov/eddcomm/asp/frmFraud.aspx

Applying for Unemployment Benefits

Go to this website to read about how to make a claim or file for Unemployment Insurance (UI). On the website, click on "Access eApply4UI" and complete the form.

Wage Claim

2009-08-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

For employees who didn't get paid, they need to report at the wage claim website.

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/HowToFileWageClaim.htm

You have to print out the form and send it as follows:

For Employees at Aracadia:

DLSE-Wage Claim

320 West Fourth St. Suite 450

Los Angeles, CA 90013

For Employees at Monrovia:

DLSE - Wage Claim

6150 Van Nuys Blvd, Room 206

Van Nuys, CA 91401

These need to be mailed by certified mail, and remember to make copies!!

The forms are here:

English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean

Welcome to Sue Montecito

2009-08-02T14:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the 'Sue Montecito' pages.

This page has been opened to try to bring together and share information for former employees and parents of the Montecito College of Fine Arts, in Monrovia, Arcadia and Brea.

Please feel free to use the comments features on the page to contribute with suggestions, information and comment.