TUSCALOOSA, Ala.—A convicted businessman currently serving time for loans that involve Alabama One Credit Union is claiming that his signature on mortgage documents at the credit union has been forged.
The Tuscaloosa News reported that Danny Ray Butler said during a bankruptcy hearing here that he did not sign certain documents related to properties that the credit union is seeking to auction. Butler is currently in prison serving a federal sentence related to a check-kiting scheme that has cost Alabama One and West Alabama Bank & Trust a combined $1.275 million. Butler also owes the credit union, his largest creditor, $13 million on those properties, the Tuscaloosa News reported.
If the mortgage documents can be shown to be forgeries, then it would render the documents void, according to Butler’s attorney, Harry Long.
The Tuscaloosa News reported that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jennifer Henderson denied Butler’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have stopped an auction of the properties today, saying that there was no evidence at the time of the hearing that Butler would suffer “irreparable harm” if the auction proceeds.
The Tuscaloosa News added, however, that if the auction goes on as planned and the signatures are ruled as forgeries, the buyer’s claim of legal title would almost certainly be challenged.
A handwriting expert hired by Butler from Drexler Document Laboratory said he believes the signatures on the documents were not written by Butler.
Meanwhile, a separate hearing that was to take place Monday here as Alabama One challenges a cease-and-desist order it has been issued by the state regulator has been moved to Thursday.