Orlando food truck manufacturer files for bankruptcy, leaving hundreds of families' life savings drained
Food truck manufacturer files for bankruptcy
Hundreds of people are seeing their life savings wiped out by an Orlando company that FOX 35 has been investigating for months. We first told you about the food truck manufacturer One Fat Frog back in February. That company told customers their food trucks would be ready in about four months. But a year or even two years later, they hadn’t delivered.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Hundreds of people are seeing their life savings wiped out by an Orlando company that FOX 35 has been investigating for months.
We first told you about the food truck manufacturer One Fat Frog back in February.
That company told customers their food trucks would be ready in about four months. But a year or even two years later, they hadn’t delivered.
The company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and a bankruptcy trustee has taken over.
He says clients may only get back one or two percent of the money they gave the company, so he’s trying to find other solutions.
FOX 35 has heard from dozens of people who gave One Fat Frog tens of thousands of dollars, hoping to start their businesses.
"Where is the money?" asked Lisette Ocasio.
"I’m angry, I’m said," Jhon Balbuena told us.
"I have no money for rent, no money for business," Monica Oviedo said through tears.
"I haven’t been able to eat, I haven’t been able to sleep," said Cairo Adorare.
"It’s been a nightmare," Eduardo Diaz said.
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Sub Chapter Five Bankruptcy Trustee Todd Budgen is trying to figure out what to do with the company.
"How do they get either the food truck or any money back? And I don't have that answer yet," he told FOX 35 in a one-on-one interview.
He says 600 to 700 families are still waiting for their food trucks.
One Fat Frog owes them around $18 million, and their bankruptcy filing lists another 4.1 million in unsecured claims for vendors.
The company has $27,000 in its bank account.
"The fact pattern of this case is rough," said Budgen. "It is disturbing."
Supply chain issues hit would-be business owners
Ciaro Adorare says she’s been cooking since she was a kid, helping her grandparents in the kitchen. She decided to open up her own food trailer and had a friend who had theirs made through One Fat Frog in Orlando, so she contracted with them, too. Her purchase and sale agreement shows she handed over about $27,000. However, the time when her trailer was supposed to be delivered came and went.
Budgen is meeting with investors, hoping someone will take over the company and potentially get people their food trucks — though they may have to pay an extra 10-15% on their contracts.
"It's a long shot. It really is," he said.
The alternative, he says, is liquidation.
"If we end up the liquidation route, I would be good to get a 1% return on the deposits made," Budgen explained. "So for someone who put down $50,000, it's going to be challenging for me to get $500 return to them."
The bankruptcy filing includes an entry for $400,000 owed to the company’s Operations Manager, Frank Connell.
He couldn’t sit down for an on-camera interview for this story but told FOX 35 Reporter Marie Edinger on the phone that money was a line of credit he gave One Fat Frog to help with materials, wages, and operational expenses.
When FOX 35 first reported on One Fat Frog in February, Connell gave Edinger a tour of the facility.
"Our backlog kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger," he said then. "So it’s caused us a lot of issues in us getting trailers out in a timely fashion."
Connell said on Wednesday that he stands by that. He also said he’d tried to stand by the company, even through the Orange County Sheriff’s Office having to go out to the facility following an exchange with angry customers.
A video from that exchange shows people shouting and demanding to know where their money went. Budgen is trying to figure that out himself.
He’ll have a report filed with the courts on August 7th.
Anyone submitting a claim must have it in by Friday, August 2nd. You can fill out a proof of claim form here and send it to the bankruptcy clerk at 400 West Washington Street, Suite 5100, Orlando, FL 32801.
If you have questions, contact the Bankruptcy Trustee’s Office here.
The Attorney General’s Office also confirmed it’s investigating One Fat Frog for potential violations of the Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
The company's CEO, Connie Baugher, hasn’t agreed to an interview but has spoken with FOX 35’s Marie Edinger multiple times on the phone over the past few months. She wouldn’t answer when asked what she’d say to clients or what they could expect moving forward.