TESTER, Bankruptcy Judge.
Donald Cox (“Cox”) appeals from a bankruptcy court judgment (“the Judgment”) entered in favor of the debtor, Richard A. Villani (“Villani”), on Cox’s complaint objecting to his discharge under
BACKGROUND
In August 2006, Cox sold a catering business to CR Oakcrest Cove, Inc. (“Oak-crest”), an entity owned by Villani and Richard Galt (“Galt”).
In October 2007, Cox filed a five-count complaint (“the state court complaint”) against the Obligors, seeking up to $400,000.00 in damages for the default in their obligations due under the Note. Cox also sought a preliminary injunction against the “reach and apply defendants,” Villani Construction, Inc., Fishy Business, Inc., and Barnstable Roofing and Siding, Inc. (collectively “the reach and apply defendants”), entities in which Villani and Galt allegedly had a beneficial interest. Contemporaneously with the state court complaint, Cox filed motions for the issuance of a writ of attachment and trustee process, ex parte, against the “trustee defendants,” Cape Cod Cooperative Bank, Banknorth, and Community Bank (collectively “the trustee defendants”), which the court granted.
On or about October 17, 2007, the state court entered a temporary restraining order,
[T]he defendant(s), [] Oakcrest [], [] Villani, [ ] Galt, Fishy Business Inc[.,] its agents, servants, attorneys and deputies are to pay all dividends and other monies due and as they become due from said corporations directly or indirectly to defendants, [ ] Oakcrest [ ], [ ] Villani [ ] and/or [ ] Galt, up to $400,000.00 other than to pay same directly to Alan M. Cohen, Esq., to be held in escrow as prejudgment security for the benefit of the plaintiff, pending further order of the [c]ourt[.]4
Villani subsequently filed a petition for chapter 7 bankruptcy relief in January
Thereafter, in April 2010, Cox commenced an adversary proceeding with a single-count complaint (“the adversary complaint”), objecting to Villani’s discharge pursuant to § 727(a)(2)(A),
In June 2010, Villani filed an answer to the adversary complaint, in which he: 1) denied that he personally made deposits of either the insurance settlement proceeds or the boat proceeds; 2) denied that any of the subject transfers violated § 727(a)(2) or any court order; 3) asserted that his boat, investment accounts, and vehicles were not subject to attachment and were, therefore, “his to dispose of as he saw fit;” and 4) admitted that he authorized Sullivan to make payments on “whichever of his two home mortgages she deemed appropriate” and to pay other necessary personal and corporate bills. Additionally, Villani asserted numerous affirmative defenses, including that Cox failed to secure the subject assets by obtaining a proper prejudgment attachment.
At the trial conducted in December 2011, Villani conceded that the transfers
[ ] I didn’t deal with (unclear) this stuff. Stacy [Sullivan] would get this stuff and then she would break it down for me because I don’t understand this stuff, Your Honor, and [Jeffery Johnson, Esq.] would break it down to me.
At trial, Villani conceded that the insurance and boat proceeds were deposited in Villani Construction, Inc.’s payroll account, and that the MetLife proceeds went into Sullivan’s account; he acknowledged that disbursements from those accounts paid not only his personal expenses, but expenses associated with his businesses, as well. Villani also testified that $10,000.00 of the MetLife withdrawal was paid to Sullivan, as reimbursement of sums she had advanced to him to help pay his bills. He explained that his primary concern when he instructed Sullivan to pay down the mortgage on his home was to save the house from foreclosure in order to maintain a home for his 30-year-old, disabled son. He further explained that he had “borrowed ... money against the house” in order to purchase the boat, and therefore, sold the boat to “pay the house down.” He expressed his rationale for selling the boat as follows: “the first thing you do is you get rid of your toys.” He stated that after having consulted with an attorney during the pendency of the state court action, he believed that the preliminary injunction did not preclude his sale of personal assets. He also testified that he did not think it was improper to withdraw money from the Metlife account because it was not subject to attachment.
Sullivan testified that she had known Villani for nearly 18 years, that he trusted her to make financial decisions on his behalf, and that she was authorized to sign checks in his name. She described their process for making financial decisions as follows:
[I]f I’ve got a question, or I want to do something and I need him to confirm, “Yeah, do it,” I would call him. More often than not it was on the phone, and I’ll call him, and I’ll — He’ll be half paying attention to me, and I’ll say, “Hey, you want me to deposit — ?” ‘Yeah, yeah,whatever.” And in the meantime he’s telling somebody to go and take bundles up on the roof, and you know, do all that stuff. So was he paying attention to me? I’m lucky if I’m getting half.
In her testimony, Sullivan claimed responsibility for the decision to withdraw funds from the MetLife account. She specifically recalled: “I probably just [told] him, “You need, you know, X amount of dollars.’ ”
According to Sullivan, she had a similar conversation with Villani regarding the disposition of the boat proceeds. She stated:
It was probably a phone call, or a, you know, early morning discussion, you know, face to face real brief; you know, “Should I just deposit this?” ‘Yeah go ahead.”
Q. And did you have a discussion as to where they money was to go—
A. No, [ ] — I would have just deposited it.
Q. And sometime after that the money was used to do what, that 85.5?
A. It went — [] towards the principal mortgage on his home....
Q. And who accomplished paying that down?
A. I did.
Q. So you filled out all the paperwork?
A. Yeah, if there was paperwork, or anything associated with it, I would have done it.
Sullivan’s testimony demonstrated that she similarly handled, if not controlled, the disposition of the proceeds from the insurance settlement:
Q. And then at some point [Villani’s] daughter totaled the car?
A. Right.
Q. And the check from the proceeds that — Who filled out the insurance paperwork for that?
A. I did.
Q. Okay. And at some point you received a check?
A. Yeah, I think it was around 21,-000[.00].
Q. And do you remember where that money went?
A. That got deposited into the Villani Construetion[, Inc.] payroll account.
Q. And then where was that money disbursed, how was that money—
A. If memory serves, once again, I held some of it and used some of it for Villani Construction^ Inc.] until some receivables came in, and then I would put the balance of that on ... the principal mortgage.
Sullivan testified that she deposited the MetLife money into her own checking account because the Oakcrest account and Villani’s personal account had been attached. She explained that she opened the payroll account for Villani Construction, Inc., because “a woman at the bank” advised her “if an account was labeled a payroll account, then it’s [ ] safe.”
In his closing argument, Cox’s attorney asserted that the totality of circumstances demonstrated that Villani intended to hinder, delay, and defraud creditors when he transferred the above-described assets within one year of filing his bankruptcy petition. He argued that the seven indicia of fraud articulated in Marrama v. Citizens Bank (In re Marrama),
[] Villani believed what he was doing was permissible. He believed he wasn’t restrained from doing it ... [T]he methods by which it was accomplished weren’t his idea. It was done by [ ] Sullivanas a convenient way of transacting those things. You heard him testify that he struggled to keep the businesses alive.
Ruling from the bench in Villani’s favor, the bankruptcy court found that he lacked the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud Cox, specifically, and creditors, generally. The court reached this conclusion despite its recognition of certain indicia of intent to hinder or delay creditors, namely Viliam’s deposits into accounts which were not subject to attachment, and his efforts “to protect his assets, including his house.” The court also found that Villani “was real sloppy with money.” The court nonetheless declared: “What strikes me is that he never thought about [] Cox at all.” The same day, the Judgment entered for Villa-ni. This appeal followed.
JURISDICTION
We are duty-bound to determine our jurisdiction before proceeding to the merits, even if not raised by the litigants. See In re George E. Bumpus, Jr. Constr. Co.,
STANDARD OF REVIEW
A bankruptcy court’s findings of fact are reviewed for clear error and its conclusions of law are reviewed de novo. Lessard v. Wilton-Lyndeborough Coop. School Dist.,
POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES
Cox argues on appeal that because the seven badges of fraud articulated by the
DISCUSSION
I. The Denial of Discharge
Section 727(a)(2)(A) provides in pertinent part that:
(a) The court shall grant the debtor a discharge, unless — ...
(2) the debtor, with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud a creditor ... has transferred, removed, destroyed, mutilated, or concealed—
(A) property- of the debtor, within one year before the date of the filing of the petition....
11 U.S.C. § 727(a)(2)(A).
“Given the serious nature of a discharge denial, the reasons for denying a discharge must be real and substantial, not merely technical and conjectural.” Annino, Draper & Moore, P.C. v. Lang (In re Lang),
“The First Circuit has ruled that four elements are required to deny a discharge under § 727(a)(2)(A): ‘(1) transfer or concealment of property, (2) that belonged to the debtor, (3) less than a year before the bankruptcy petition, (4) with actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud a creditor.’ ” In re Barry,
II. The Intent Issue
A. The Standard
“In determining whether a debtor possessed culpable intent within the meaning of § 727(a)(2)(A), courts traditionally consider the totality of circumstances.” In re Barry,
(1) insider relationships between the parties; (2) the retention of possession, benefit or use of the property in question; (3) the lack or inadequacy of consideration for the transfer; (4) the financial condition of the [debtor] both before and after the transaction at issue; (5) the existence or cumulative effect of the pattern or series of transactions or course of conduct after the incurring of the debt, onset of financial difficulties, or pendency or threat of suits by creditors; (6) the general chronology of the events and transactions under inquiry; and (7) an attempt by the debtor to keep the transfer a secret.
Id. (citing In re Watman,
B. The Standard Applied
The record reflects that Villani placed the boat, insurance, and Metlife proceeds under the control of Sullivan, with whom he had a confidential relationship; thereafter, the boat and insurance proceeds were deposited in a payroll account admittedly created to shield funds from creditors. See Locke v. Schafer (In re Schafer),
A review of the record within the framework of the Marrama criteria reveals the presence of every badge which'the First Circuit has identified. In addition to the existence of these factors, the record reflects a series or pattern of transfers as well. While any of the transfers could constitute an independent ground for denying Villani’s discharge, viewed together, they firmly establish that Villani possessed the requisite improper intent. See In re Barry,
Both in the proceedings below and on appeal, Villani offers several exculpatory arguments to negate the presence of improper intent, all of which have been rejected previously by the First Circuit or this Panel. For example, although Villani argues that by the challenged transfers, he paid legitimate trade and personal debt, we have already rejected a similar argument in Barry, where we ruled that “a debtor may not act to prefer one creditor with the specific intent to delay impermis-sibly another creditor.”
Furthermore, although Villani testified that he had only a high school education and professed a limited understanding of legal matters, we recently rejected a debtor’s asserted lack of sophistication as justification for a § 727 violation where, as here, the debtor’s multiple business and real estate interests actually reflected that he was experienced in financial affairs. See Harrington v. Donahue (In re Donahue), No. 10-01071,
Similarly unavailing under the law of this circuit is Villani’s argument that he engaged in the subject transfers in reliance upon the advice of counsel, who had informed him that the preliminary injunction did not prevent him from transferring personal assets (but apparently neglected to warn him of potential § 727(a)(2)(A) issues). See, e.g., Boroff v. Tully (In re Tully),
We are mindful that the First Circuit requires us to accord deference to the original finder of fact in the context of determinations concerning fraudulent intent. See Commerce Bank & Trust Co. v. Burgess (In re Burgess),
CONCLUSION
The bankruptcy court erred when it determined that Villani lacked the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors within the meaning of § 727(a)(2)(A). Accordingly, we REVERSE the Judgment and REMAND with instructions to the bankruptcy court to enter a judgment denying Villani’s discharge.
Notes
. Although Cox stated in the adversary complaint that he was proceeding under § 727(a)(2)(B), he actually set forth a cause of action under § 727(a)(2)(A), insofar as it was based on Villani's alleged efforts to hinder and delay creditors. During trial, the court observed that the reference to § 727(a)(2)(B) in the adversary complaint was a typographical error and Cox's attorney did not object.
. Unless otherwise indicated, the terms "Bankruptcy Code,” "section” and "§ ” refer to Title 11 of the United States Code, 11 U.S.C. §§ 101, et seq., as amended by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, Pub.L. No. 109-8, 119 Stat. 37. All references to "Bankruptcy Rule” are to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, and all references to "Rule” are to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
. On his Statement of Financial Affairs, Villa-ni indicated that he was an officer, director, partner, or managing executive of Oakcrest, a catering business, from September 2006 to January 2008. Additionally, he reported interests in Villani Construction, Inc., a construction business, from January 1, 2003 to the date of filing, and Fishy Business, Inc., a fish market, from May 2007 to April 2008.
. Pursuant to the terms of the temporary restraining order, the state court directed Villa-ni and the reach and apply defendants to pay all sums due from the Obligors, up to $400,000.00, to be held in escrow as prejudgment security for Cox’s benefit.
. It appears from the record that in the state court action, Cox obtained a $413,620.56 judgment against Galt, only, on August 11, 2008. In his brief, however, Cox indicates that he obtained a judgment against Villani, as well. Neither the record nor the parties’ briefs explain this discrepancy.
. In his Statement of Financial Affairs, however, in response to question 10A, "list all other properties transferred ... within two years immediately preceding commencement of the case,” Villani answered "None.”
