A judgment from 2011 continues to haunt a Hot Springs Village woman.
Linda Gauthier, formerly known as Linda B. Turner, has been accused of hiding assets to avoid paying the judgment of nearly $350,000 that Regions Bank obtained from Saline County Circuit Court in 2011, according to a lawsuit filed by Edgefield Holdings LLC of Miami, in U.S. District Court in Little Rock.
The judgment was against Gauthier and her son, Robert Shell of Rogers, and their Benton mini golf course, Vinson Paradise Golf LLC. Gauthier and Shell personally guaranteed the loans that were used for the attraction. In court filings, Shell said he walked away from the ownership of the golf course around 2008.
In January, Regions assigned the debt to Edgefield, which then began the garnishing process.
“Mrs. Gauthier received notice of Edgefield’s garnishments and immediately began to transfer, hide, and conceal her last remaining assets to avoid Edgefield’s collection efforts,” said the lawsuit filed by attorneys Andrew King, Frederick Davis and Pierce Hunter of the Little Rock office of Kutak Rock LLP.
The lawsuit said that she transferred property, including a $109,000 house in Bauxite (Saline County), to her husband, William J. Gauthier. The lawsuit also charges that she deposited her money into his account to keep it out of the hands of Edgefield. He also has been named as a defendant in Edgefield’s lawsuit.
Edgefield claims it is entitled to a judgment against William Gauthier and wants a judge to stop any more transfers.
William Gauthier disputed the allegations that his wife transferred property to him to avoid paying the judgment. “I really don’t know what they’re talking about,” he said.
He said Edgefield has been harassing the couple for the last year. “Everything should be settled,” he said. “But no, they’re going back again and harassing.”
As for Shell, in August he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection listing $50,000 in assets and debts of $1.1 million. The largest debt is to Edgefield Holdings for $346,000.