Billy Abraham: ‘Ludicrous’ child support lien has tied my hands
Businessman William “Billy” Abraham was back in bankruptcy court Thursday afternoon, telling ABC-7 a child support lien has tied his hands as he tries to settle his debt with creditors.
“The child support lien, that illegally, just slapped down at the county court, has made it difficult because I’ve had to operate without a bank account,” Abraham told ABC-7, “I really think it’s ludicrous.”
The businessman said he plans on paying back his debt, but the recent move by an ex-wife asking for child support back pay from more than 36 years ago has made it more difficult.
Abraham filed for bankruptcy in February 2018 after he was ordered to pay more than $1 million to Ivan Aguilera, the son of the late singer, Juan Gabriel. In the summer of 2017, a judge ordered Abraham to pay Aguilera’s company for a Juan Gabriel performance at the Don Haskins Center in 2015. Abraham was the promoter.
Monday, a judge decided to keep Abraham’s case in Chapter 11 reorganization. Abraham’s creditors were asking the judge to move the case to Chapter 7 liquidation, which would have forced the sale of Abraham’s assets so that he could pay his creditors.
The judge appointed a trustee to oversee Abraham’s financial assets. During Thursday’s hearing, the trustee carefully reviewed Abraham’s financial paperwork.
Abraham owns several properties in the heart of downtown, including the Kress and Caples buildings. He also owns several properties in central and east El Paso, as well as Hudspeth County. On top of that, Abraham has several LLCs, or limited liability companies, a way of structuring a business to protect personal assets in case the business is sued.
Abraham will be back in bankruptcy court in two weeks and is expected to provide a few more clarifications regarding his financial assets. “It’s a difficult (process) but we’re going to circle the wagons and we’re going to get our bills paid and we’re going to make a comeback,” the businessman said.
