Chris Pettit’s donation to Antonian examined in bankruptcy case
In late 2016, two representatives from Antonian College Preparatory High School visited Christopher “Chris” Pettit at his San Antonio law office.
The couple – then principal Tim Petersen and former Charles Montemayor – detailed a fundraising campaign to fund improvements to the Catholic school in the hope that Pettit would contribute.
Although they did not ask Pettit to donate any money during the visit, he later pledged to help fund the first phase of the campaign – the conversion of a building on the Castle Hills campus. into a library, a learning center and six classrooms.
The school later named the building the Pettit Family Center for Academic Excellence. A plaque in the lobby indicates that the building was dedicated in honor of Pettit’s parents. Pettit and his three brothers graduated from Antonian.
Pettit’s pledge – $500,000, according to a person familiar with her but who did not want to be identified – is coming under scrutiny in the former San Antonio lawyer’s bankruptcy case as he faces allegations that he stole millions of dollars from former clients. Pettit declared approximately $40.5 million in assets and $112.2 million in liabilities for himself and his now-defunct law firm in the massive Chapter 11 case, but so far , he was unwilling or unable to explain where his client’s money went.
An amended bankruptcy filing last month showed Pettit paid $225,000 to Antonian from 2019 to 2021. The pledge spanned several years, and it’s unclear how much, if any, remains unpaid.
Under bankruptcy law, a trustee can recover assets in the name of a bankrupt estate if they were fraudulently transferred within two years before the case was filed. State law extends this time limit to four years.
Mary Elizabeth Heard, a San Antonio attorney who represents longtime Pettit clients who lost $2 million, said she hopes Chapter 11 trustee Eric Terry will undo Pettit’s “fraudulent transfers so money is available” to pay its creditors, including its customers.
“Although the bankruptcy code provides that certain charitable contributions are exempt from being recovered in the bankruptcy estate, I do not believe that these conditions exist in the case of Mr. Pettit with regard to the contribution of 225,000 $,” Heard said in an email.
“Here we don’t know if Chris Pettit made a legitimate income in the years leading up to the bankruptcy filing,” she added. “It is certainly possible that he used his clients’ money to make charitable donations in his name.”
San Antonio attorney Martin Seidler, who is also representing creditors in the case, agreed the donation was worth considering.
“If he gives something away and he’s insolvent, that’s implied fraud on creditors,” Seidler said.
Terry, his lawyers and forensic accountants investigated various transactions made by Pettit. Terry did not respond to a request for comment, so it could not be determined whether the donation to Antonian was one of them. His team has identified at least 149 bank accounts maintained by Pettit or his company and now wants the funds and account information for many of them turned over.
The Pettit Family Center for Academic Excellence at Antonian College Preparatory High School opened in 2017.
The Archdiocese
Principal Antonian John Mein said he was not authorized to comment on the situation and directed questions to the Archdiocese of San Antonio. Antonian is an archdiocesan school.
“The Archdiocese is obviously aware of what is going on with Mr. Pettit,” spokesman Jordan McMorrough said. “Regarding the name on the building…we are reviewing the situation on our end and are determining next steps.”
McMorrough wouldn’t say if that includes removing the Pettit name. The amount of Pettit’s pledge was confidential, he said.
It is unclear whether excision of the building’s name would expose the school or the archdiocese to legal trouble. But leaving the name creates a public relations headache for them given that Pettit admitted he had ’embezzled and dissipated’ money from a trust account in at least one of a dozen lawsuits against him. and his business.
“It’s a dilemma,” said Montemayor, a 1984 Antonian graduate who visited Pettit about the fundraising campaign. “I thought the same as soon as the stories started coming out.”
The bankruptcy suspended ongoing litigation against Pettit and his company. The allegations in these complaints triggered an FBI investigation.
Henry “Hank” Valdespino, president of the Antonian School Board, said there was no discussion about Pettit by the board.
“It’s not set up in a way that the school can make those decisions on its own,” he said of the building’s naming decisions. “We have to get all of this through the Archdiocese.”
Former San Antonio attorney Christopher Pettit is facing allegations he stole tens of millions of dollars from his clients.
Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News/Staff Photographer“Happy to participate”
Pettit, 55, graduated from Antonian in 1985. He followed in the footsteps of his brothers Jonathan, who graduated in 1978, and Martin, who graduated in 1982. Their youngest brother, Charles, graduated in 1991.
With the recent death of Charles, who had worked at Petitt’s law firm until it closed about two months ago, all three of Pettit’s brothers have died.
Work on the building named after Pettit’s parents began in 2016. The cost was estimated at $1.5 million, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
In his speech at the 2017 dedication and blessing of the building, Pettit recalled Petersen and Montemayor’s visit to discuss the fundraising campaign.
Principal Petersen “was mentioning that you were looking for people to donate and help make a wonderful tribute to this school,” Pettit told the audience at the ceremony, which was recorded and posted on YouTube. “I was happy to participate and do that.”
He added how ‘extremely rewarding’ it was for him to answer legal questions posed by former teachers who helped him become a student.
Montemayor, who served as an associate judge in Bexar County Children’s Court, recalled visiting with Pettit in late 2016.
“I thought he was, at the time, a person with a lot of resources or potential,” Montemayor said. “And Mr. Petersen just asked me to go and update him on Antonian – just to tell him what’s going on at school. And that was it.
Montemayor was a year ahead of Pettit at Antonian, but both graduated from St. Mary’s University Law School in 1991. Montemayor’s wife also attended Antonian and before that, like Pettit, St. Gregory the Great Catholic School, kindergarten through eighth.
“He was always courteous and very kind,” Montemayor said of Pettit. I know what happened to him. It hit me out of left field, to be honest with you. I don’t know the details of everything. But I must admit that all of this shocked me.
Pettit’s bankruptcy attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
pdanner@express-news.net