By Milton Allimadi
Photos: Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free\Wikimedia Commons
Businessman Jose Sandy Buco claims Judge Philip Bentley in the Southern District of New York wrongfully dismissed his bankruptcy case just when he was scheduled to present evidence to show he was the victim of illegal foreclosure on his three properties involving the use of “false, fraudulent, and forged” proofs of claim.
Mr. Buco says, and the court transcript shows, Judge Bentley dismissed the case, claiming the proofs of claim filed against his properties totaled about $6.4 million, which exceeds the $2.75 million ceiling for chapter 13 bankruptcy protection. However, Mr. Buco had filed his opposition to the proofs of claim and rejected them.
“How can a judge say ‘this is the amount of your debt because this is what the proof of claim says’? Is that not why we have the courts to adjudicate these contested issues?” Mr. Buco said. “The judge dismissed the case four days after he adjourned and rescheduled from September 12, 2024 to October 17, 2024, the date for me to argue my challenge to these false, fraudulent, and forged proofs of claim filed against my properties.”
During the Sept. 16, 2024 hearing when Judge Bentley dismissed Mr. Buco’s case, he said he’d reviewed the opposing parties’ filings and heard arguments on the trustee’s motion to dismiss in a hearing the previous week. “I’m going to grant the trustee’s motion on a single ground, namely that the debtor is not eligible for chapter 13 relief, because his debts exceed the statutory debt cap for chapter 13 cases,” Judge Bentley said, according to the transcript.
He said the combined debt as reflected in the proofs of claim was a little more than $6.4 million. “Each of these proofs of claim attaches documents that show the balance, the amount of the debt, and show that it was incurred prepetition,” the judge added.
What Judge Bentley said next was what he found “most shocking,” Mr. Buco said.
“The debtor has not objected to those proofs of claim and therefore, they’re deemed valid,” Judge Bentley said, according to the transcript. “So, that amount $6.4 million, is way above the $2.75 million debt cap. The debtor, therefore. does not qualify for chapter 13 relief, and I will enter an order dismissing his case on that ground.”
Mr. Buco said this was, of course, false, since he had indeed filed objections to the proofs of claim and was waiting for the Oct. 17, 2024 court date to present his case, after the judge adjourned the original Sept. 12, 2024 court date.
After Judge Bentley dismissed his case, Mr. Buco filed a rule 60 motion, asking the court to vacate the order dismissing the bankruptcy and to also vacate a second order discharging the trustee Thomas C. Frost. Judge Bentley denied this motion on June 12, 2025, although the court has yet to docket the written order which would then allow Mr. Buco to proceed with the appeal he says he intends to file.
Judge Bentley did not respond to an e-mail message from Black Star News inquiring about the dismissal of Mr. Buco’s case prior to his court date to challenge the proofs of claim and why the judge stated that he had not objected to the proofs of claim. The message was also copied to Chief Judge Martin Glenn.
Mr. Buco filed for chapter 13 bankruptcy protection on April 9, 2024. After several proofs of claim were filed against his properties, beginning on June 12, 2024, Mr. Buco filed his objections between August and September, 2024.
Filing a fraudulent proof of claim is punishable by a $50,000 fine, or five years imprisonment, or both.
Editor’s note: This is part one of a series. The next article will examine in detail the proofs of claim filed against Mr. Buco’s properties. For tips about alleged wrongful foreclosure cases reach this writer via [email protected]
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