TWG Resources, a business entity tied up with the bankruptcy of a former Northwest Arkansas real estate developer, is asking the court to reconsider its decision to disclose the content of an email that it contends is privileged.
In a filing Wednesday, Melissa Hayward,the attorney for TWG Resources, asked the court in the bankruptcy of Bill Schwyhart to exclude an email and its attachments from records requested by CHP, an investment group. If the email and attachments are not excluded, Hayward asked the judge to issue an order to prohibit the disclosure of the information the email contains.
CHP claims Schwyhart and his wife lied about or failed to disclose their ownership in various business entities to defraud creditors and hide information about their finances. It also argues that the Schwyharts deceived the court by hiding the fact that they owned an 8,333-square-foot house in the Pinnacle Country Club development in Rogers where they lived for years until recently moving to Texas. The Schwyharts deny any wrongdoing.
In July 2018, the Schwyharts filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in Texas, claiming more than $90 million in debt.
During the Northwest Arkansas building boom, Schwyhart worked with late trucking magnate J.B. Hunt and Tim Graham on the Pinnacle Hills Promenade mall, which opened in 2006. After Hunt's death later that year, his widow, Johnelle Hunt, and Graham broke ties with Schwyhart.
In October, CHP had asked the court to require Travis Story, an attorney for Schwyhart and some of the business entities involved in his bankruptcy case, including TWG, to turn over certain documents. The court later ruled attorneys for CHP could examine some of the documents but also excluded others since they contained privileged information.
The email and attachment which were between Alex Schwyhart and his attorney, TWG argued in the Wednesday filing, is protected by attorney-client privilege and was never provided to a third party. In addition, the attachment includes documents belonging to Alex Schwyhart, Bill Schwyhart's son, that were stolen years earlier. According to the filing, the documents outlined Alex Schwyhart's litigation strategy against Hunt.
According to TWG's filing, in 2011, attorney Brian Ferguson, acting as the a receiver for Low Tide Holdings LLC in the foreclosure on the Schwyhart's home, took the documents from Alex Schwyhart's desk. Ferguson then turned the documents over to Johnelle Hunt, who was tied up in court battles with the Schwyharts and who owned Low Tide Holdings. In 2013, a confidential settlement between the Schwyharts, Hunt, and other parties indicated Hunt or her agents had no personal property taken from the Schwyhart home.
The TWG filing contends that Ferguson, who now represents CHP, knows about the information in the attachments because of his "tortious conduct."
Business on 08/30/2019