The Seattle Bazaar Bankruptcy Scandal
Bank sues Samuel Levy, alleging the Seattle Bazaar’s closure and stock seizures were a scheme to defraud creditors.
In a complaint filed yesterday in the superior court, the Puget Sound National Bank makes serious charges against Samuel Levy, proprietor of the Seattle Bazaar, which closed the day after Christmas. The store was closed by virtue of executions levied on the stock by L. L. Levy and Carrie Dibble. It is alleged that Levy was not indebted to either party, but that the scheme was made for the purpose of defrauding Levy's creditors. An affidavit of Jacob Furth is filed with the complaint, stating that Levy repeatedly told him that he had no other debts than the one to the bank, and by these representations secured the loan from the bank and several extensions of it. A temporary restraining order was granted by Judge Langley prohibiting the sale of the stock.
“Levy repeatedly told him that he had no other debts than the one to the bank, and by these representations secured the loan.”
Business fraud cases involving 'friendly' creditors or manufactured debt remain a hallmark of commercial litigation. The involvement of local figures like Jacob Furth underscores how intertwined banking and retail interests were in the city's early commercial district.
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