David Whitaker.
The former owner of Mon Ethos Pro Support, David Whitaker, is suing the company's new owner Curtis Jones, to prevent him from discharging an alleged $11 million debt in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The sale of Mon Ethos occurred in April 2024, but was announced months later, amidst a breach of contract lawsuit filed against the company by the Government of the Virgin Islands. In September of that year, Mr. Whitaker’s guilty plea to federal charges of wire fraud and bribery of a government official became public, and GVI responded by cancelling all remaining contracts with the company. This drew the ire of Mr. Jones, the new owner.
In January 2025, several former government officials were indicted on fraud and bribery charges, with Mr. Whitaker alleged to be the individual behind the bribery.
In early February, Mr. Jones filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. The personal petition lists business debts of between $1 and $10 million, with assets in the same range. Among others, he lists Mr. Whitaker as a creditor to whom he owes a disputed $5.6 million from the sale of a business. In addition to the transfer of ownership of the business, the sale agreement reportedly included a provision that would allow Mr. Whitaker to occupy a Georgia property owned by Mr. Jones for a significant period of time, with the eventual transfer of ownership to Mr. Whitaker.
Later that month, however, Mr. Jones filed a motion asking the court to reject the sale and purchase agreement he signed in April 2024. He argued that three weeks prior to the sale, Mr. Whitaker had accepted a plea agreement with the federal government in the face of fraud and bribery charges.
The agreement, Mr. Jones argued, caused GVI to cancel the three open contracts with Mon Ethos. “MEPS has not generated a single dollar of revenue for Debtor since he took operational control. It is worthless,” Mr. Jones told the court. “It is more of a liability than an asset and provides zero benefit to Debtor,” he argued.
Mr. Whitaker, in return, accused Mr. Jones of making false statements to the court. In his motion to keep the debt alive and valid, he argues that Mr. Jones admitted, under oath, that at the time of the sale, he did not have sufficient financial resources to buy Mon Ethos. He also allegedly admitted that he did not intend to meet all the obligations outlined in the sale and purchase agreement.
Mr. Whitaker alleges that Mr. Jones took steps to sabotage the company, including instructing lawyers “not to pursue lucrative litigation against the Government of the Virgin Islands.” Mr. Jones also “knowingly and intentionally mismanaged MEPS…by halting MEPS revenue collections, failing to seek any additional new contracts for work…and not managing any of the employees.”
Required legal filings in connection with the Georgia property were also not made as promised, Mr. Whitaker claims.
Mr. Whitaker says that he was persuaded to sell his company to Mr. Jones on the basis of fraud, deceit and misrepresentation, and is thus asking the court to hold Mr. Jones liable for the full debt represented by the sale and purchase agreement – $11,100,000.
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