Accused Surgeon Loses Court Round to His Creditors

SAN BERNARDINO —  Creditors of Thomas A. Gionis, the Pomona surgeon accused of masterminding an attack on his ex-wife, Aissa Wayne, won a crucial bankruptcy ruling Friday that forces Gionis to liquidate part of his assets to pay off his debts.

More than 200 creditors, including Wayne, daughter of John Wayne, asked federal Bankruptcy Judge David N. Naugle in San Bernardino to convert the bankruptcy for Gionis’ medical corporation from a Chapter 11 case to Chapter 7. The change allows a court-appointed trustee to sell the surgeon’s assets for the benefit of his creditors.

Attorneys said that court documents indicate the corporate assets alone are worth at least $4 million.

Gionis had blocked access to financial documents and invoked the Fifth Amendment 67 times when questioned during a deposition, said Richard Marshak, a Santa Ana attorney and court-sanctioned counsel for a host of unsecured creditors.Neither Gionis nor his bankruptcy attorney, Fred Cohen, could be reached for comment.

A criminal trial for Gionis, who is accused of masterminding the attack on Wayne and her then-boyfriend, financier Roger W. Luby, is scheduled to begin Nov. 28. However, Gionis’ attorneys said Friday that they plan to seek a continuance next week to at least February. Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey reduced Gionis’ bail from $250,000 to $100,000 although Gionis’ attorneys had requested a reduction to $25,000. He has pleaded innocent to the charges.

Wayne and Luby were attacked on Oct. 3, 1988, at Luby’s $3-million Newport Beach estate. They said two men smashed their faces on a concrete floor and slashed Luby’s right Achilles’ tendon.

In August, Gionis filed for protection from his creditors in federal bankruptcy court. The filing has prevented his ex-wife from collecting a $1.3-million judgment awarded to her earlier this year as part of their divorce settlement.

Before his legal problems began, Gionis had a flourishing private orthopedic practice and had five Southland medical clinics. Gionis has also filed personal bankruptcy and bankruptcy on behalf of a partnership, Multiple Specialty Group of the Desert.

The surgeon drove a Ferrari and lived with Wayne and the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Anastasia, in an estate in the Phillips Ranch area of Pomona. Wayne, after a stormy custody battle, was granted custody of their daughter.

During the hearing, Naugle accused Gionis of “bad management” when he learned that Gionis had drawn a $4,000-a-week salary from the corporation but had neglected to take out any withholding tax, said Timothy J. Farris, an attorney in charge of the U.S. Trustee Office in San Bernardino.

Farris said that after an Aug. 25 meeting between Gionis, his attorney and attorneys for his creditors, it was agreed that Gionis could take out a $4,000-a-week corporate salary “provided he get medical malpractice insurance.”

“Without the insurance, he could not treat patients,” Farris said. “We said that if he was an operating doctor he should be entitled to the salary. He applied for the insurance but he never got it.”

The surgeon’s belligerence and uncooperative nature prompted the government to concur with his creditors and their motion Friday before Judge Naugle, Farris said.

“For two months, because (Gionis) failed to provide interim financial statements, I didn’t know what was going on with the money for the corporation,” Farris said.