Chasen Cos. accused of fraudulently spending $2 million on yachts

Baltimore developer Brandon Chasen’s construction firm spent more than $2 million to charter, manage and service yachts in what bankruptcy attorneys called “textbook fraudulent transfers,” according to new court filings.

Eight separate lawsuits filed Wednesday on behalf of the trustee in the firm’s bankruptcy case allege that Chasen Construction, part of Chasen Cos., used business accounts to pay for personal yacht expenses from 2022 to 2024. The company’s leaders did so even with the knowledge that their real estate business was “financially distressed,” according to the complaints, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Maryland.

The company has not yet filed a response in court, and an attorney for Chasen stressed that Chasen and his business are “not one and the same.”

Chasen and his business partner Paul Davis met as young men at the Bullis School in Potomac and later opened a series of CrossFit gyms, flipped single-family homes and then went into property acquisition.

Their high-profile Chasen Cos. once sought to corner the Baltimore rental housing market with boutique offerings in renovated and historic properties and owned some 2,000 rental units, mostly in Baltimore.

Just as Chasen Cos. looked to launch several large projects, such as renovation of the old Meyer Seed Co. warehouse at the border of Fells Point and Harbor East, contractors, lenders and vendors filed multiple lawsuits alleging the business failed to make payments and breached contractual agreements.

Last year, Sandy Spring Bank — since acquired by Atlantic Union Bank — and two other creditors successfully forced Chasen Cos. into involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Several months later, Chasen declared personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

In an email, Chasen’s attorney Adam Freiman declined to comment on the specific claims.

“The allegations contained in these complaints are precisely that — allegations made by parties seeking to recover money for the bankruptcy estate,” Freiman said. “They are not findings of fact, nor do they establish that Mr. Chasen personally engaged in any wrongdoing.”

Davis’ attorney Jeffrey Orenstein did not respond to a request for comment.

Chasen and Davis had a taste for luxury. They once entertained the idea of buying an island in the Bahamas, but ultimately decided it was too expensive, according to testimony in a bankruptcy hearing. The construction firm had a private jet, and Chasen and Davis, through legal entities, bought at least five private yachts starting in 2022, according to court documents.

The yachts were named Alexandra Jane, Princess Lona, Princess Lona TT (aka “Little P”), Midnight Express and Limitless.

The lawsuits allege that as many as eight different Florida-based yacht management companies maintained and chartered those yachts and racked up expenses. The vessels were rented out as part of a business enterprise and were also used for personal enjoyment, according to the lawsuits.

Even as Chasen and Davis were buying yachts, Chasen Cos. was largely “underwater, insolvent, and over-encumbered,” the lawsuits allege.

At the same time, Chasen and Davis siphoned millions of dollars away from the company’s construction accounts to “intentionally enrich themselves” and “fund their extravagant lifestyles and prop up their unrelated businesses,” according to the lawsuits.

Lawyers representing bankruptcy trustee Roger Schlossberg have asked the court to recover the value of the transfers from the yacht services and to award attorneys’ fees, other expenses and interest.

They allege the transfers were made to “hinder, delay or defraud” present and future creditors in the bankruptcy case.

The final meeting of creditors in Chasen’s personal bankruptcy case was held in July. No further hearings have been scheduled in the construction company’s bankruptcy case.