SEC v. Louis V. Schooler and First Financial Planning Corp d/b/a Western Financial Planning Corp

Case Summary

On September 6, 2012, Thomas C. Hebrank of E3 Advisors was appointed temporary receiver for Western Financial Planning Corporation and the entities it controls, including the general partnerships (“Defendants”), pursuant to an Order entered by the United States District Court for the Southern District of California in an action against Defendants filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investor K-1's

As a reminder, 2017 was the last year that investors were to receive K-1’s for their General Partnership investments. Below is the notification you were provided last year:

As you have previously been advised, you will no longer receive a K-1 or any other tax documents to reflect this or future distributions. The cash proceeds you receive may result in income/gain to you in the year you receive the distributions. Tax treatment of these distributions will depend on how you previously reported your investment on your individual income tax returns. If, for example, you wrote off your entire investment in 2017 or in prior years, distributions will be considered income in the year received. If you did not write off your investment in 2017, any distributions would be a return of capital up to your outside basis. Any proceeds received above your outside basis would result in income to you. If the proceeds you receive fall short of your outside basis, it would be a loss on your investment. This is a general statement and is not meant to replace your professional’s advice in this matter. Accordingly, please consult your tax advisor.

Case Updates: Q1 2022

Final Distribution and Conclusion of the Receivership
The Court approved a motion to conclude the receivership on September 30, 2021 and to send out a final distribution to all qualified investors. The final distribution was sent out in November 2021 and to date nearly 93% of investors have cashed their checks. The deadline to cash checks is February 28, 2022 and the court did not authorize the Receiver to reissue checks. After that date, all uncashed checks will be forfeited.

After the payment of final vendor invoices for tax returns and final receivership closing items, those forfeited funds will be forwarded to the United States Treasury. The Receiver anticipates closing the receivership in the coming months.

Updated Contact Information
As always, if your mailing address or email address has changed, please send your current contact information to wfp@ethreeadvisors.com right away.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the Receiver?

Why was there a Receiver appointed? Thomas C. Hebrank was appointed by the Federal District Court on September 6, 2012. The Receiver was appointed after a complaint was filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Louis V. Schooler and First Financial Planning Corp. dba Western Financial Planning Corp. (“Western”). The General Partnerships and underlying properties are included in the receivership.

Who can I talk to about my investment?

You can periodically visit the Receiver’s website for additional updates as far as the case, Receiver’s Reports and other legal filings (www.ethreeadvisors.com). The Receiver and his staff are happy to take your questions, however to reduce expenses, we ask that you check the FAQ or website first. Please direct inquiries to the Receiver to wfp@ethreeadvisors.com.

What are the next steps in the receivership?

As ordered by the Court, the Receiver has pooled all GP bank accounts, closed out the GPs, and is in the process of selling properties pursuant to the Court-approved sale process. The Receiver completed the investor claims process and sought authority to make interim distributions to investors with allowed claims. That motion was granted on April 30, 2018, and interim distribution checks were sent to investors with allowed claims on June 12, 2018.

Court Filings

Filings listed in the sections below link to PDF documents.

2013 Court Filings

2014 Court Filings

2015 Court Filings

2016 Court Filings

2017 Court Filings

2018 Court Filings

Thomas C. Hebrank
Thomas C. Hebrank

Principal