My name is Kenneth and I have a family owned furniture company in Morristown, Tenn. We sell furniture to the mobile home industry. I purchased the business from my father 20 years ago and until recently my family and my business have flourished. But we have fallen on hard times. I am currently involved in two lawsuits which have left my business and me in debt.
The first lawsuit involves a former employee. She embezzled over $100,000 from my business over the period of about a year. She was my office manager and was writing fraudulent checks to herself which were recorded as payments to the IRS for federal and state taxes. This has consequently landed me with a large amount of back payments to the IRS, as well as the stolen money. I am currently suing for this but the court date has been postponed by her and her lawyer numerous times. She was convicted of these charges in criminal court, but I have to sue her in civil court in order to collect the stolen money.
The second lawsuit involves a former business partner. After the embezzlement, I was forced to sell my business, commercial truck, and inventory to this woman due to my large amount of debt. I went to work for her doing sales after that. To this day, she has failed to pay me for the inventory and the truck. She has also failed to pay me a large sum of commission payments that was owed to me. I am currently suing for this but the court date has not been set. Attorneys have a way of delaying court dates for as long as they want.
I have two children in college and a child in grade school. My business is currently about to go under. My credit score is extremely low due to the unpaid payments to the IRS and other creditors, so I am unable to take out a loan to help keep my business afloat. Due to lack of funds, my health insurance for myself and my three children has been canceled. As a small business owner to anyone who sympathizes or has been through a similar ordeal, any help would be greatly appreciated. Please contact me at Peblcrk@aol.com. My family and I thank you.
