Peggy Nestor

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UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
__________________________________________
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In re: 	: 	Chapter 11
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PEGGY NESTOR, 	: 	Case No. 23-10627 (MEW)
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Debtor. 	:
__________________________________________:
DECISION APPROVING THIRD AMENDED
STIPULATION AND ORDER (ECF NO. 1220)
Albert Togut, in his capacity as the Plan Administrator under the confirmed plan of
reorganization in these cases, has proposed to enter into a settlement with the Public
Administrator of Nassau County, Rosalia Baiamonte, Esq. (as the court-appointed receiver for
Oleg Cassini, Inc. and Cassini Parfums, LTD) and John J. Barnosky, Esq. and Alexandre
Cassini, as Executors of the Estate of Christina Cassini and as Successor Administrators of the
Estate of Daria Cassini. The first version of a proposed settlement (ECF No. 1008) was the
subject of a hearing before this Court on April 16, 2026, at which time I expressed concerns
about certain terms of the proposed settlement and stated that I would not approve it in its then-
present form. See Transcript, April 16, 2026 (ECF No. 1096). An amended settlement
stipulation was filed on May 20, 2026 (ECF No. 1107) and was the subject of a hearing on June
11, 2026, at which time I continued to express concerns and stated that I would not approve the
stipulation as proposed. See Transcript, June 11, 2026 (ECF No. 1150). A further amended
settlement stipulation was filed on August 24, 2026 (ECF No. 1192) and was the subject of a
hearing on September 22, 2026, at which time I expressed some remaining concerns about the
proposed terms but said that I would approve it if certain release provisions were modified in the
manner described at the hearing. See Transcript, September 22, 2026 (ECF No. 1234).
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The Plan Administrator and the other parties made further amendments to their proposed
settlement, and on October 6, 2026 they filed their request for approval of their Third Amended
Stipulation and Order (ECF No. 1220). The proposed revisions make clear that Debtor Peggy
Nestor will, upon approval of the settlement, be the beneficiary of releases of all claims that have
been asserted or that could be asserted against her by (i) the Public Administrator, (ii) the
Receiver for Oleg Cassini, Inc. and Cassini Parfums, LTD, and (iii) the Executors of the Estate
of Christina Cassini and the Successor Administrators of the Estate of Daria Cassini, with the
limited exception of currently-unknown claims in the event that it is discovered that the Debtor’s
sister, Marianne Nestor, made transfers to the Debtor for the purpose of frustrating the collection
of a judgment against Marianne Nestor. The Third Amended Stipulation and Order contains the
revisions that I said that I would approve when the matter was discussed at the September 22,
2026 hearing.
The Debtor has filed an objection (ECF No. 1237). Her sister, Marianne Nestor Cassini,
has filed other papers relating to claims that Peggy Nestor has asserted in connection with the
administration of the estate of Oleg Cassini (ECF No. 1226). Marianne Nestor Cassini has also
filed objections to the proposed stipulation and to a host of other prior decisions that this Court
has issued. (ECF Nos. 1223, 1225, 1227, 1228, 1235, 1236, 1240). I have reviewed all of these
materials. The Debtor’s objection appears fundamentally to misunderstand the effect of the
stipulation as now worded. She complains that the parties to the Cassini estate should not be
pursuing her, but the effect of the changes that have been made to the settlement agreement is
that Peggy Nestor will be released from virtually all claims that the Public Administrator, the
Receiver and the other parties have asserted or could assert against her, with the very limited
exception of fraudulent transfer claims in the event it is discovered that Marianne Nestor Cassini
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has made currently-unknown fraudulent transfers to Peggy Nestor for the purpose of evading a
judgment.
The settlement also includes a release of the claims that Peggy Nestor has asserted
against the Cassini estate. As I have previously observed, the claims asserted by Peggy Nestor
are property of her bankruptcy estate and may be compromised by the Plan Administrator. The
Plan Administrator has explained that the claims are subject to significant statute of limitations
and other defenses, and he reasonably has concluded that there would be no realistic chance of
an affirmative recovery. The release of claims against Peggy Nestor renders moot any concerns
about her possible desire to argue that debts allegedly owed to her should be treated as “offsets”
to any claims asserted by the estate parties against her.
Marianne Nestor continues to complain about a portion of the settlement which provides
that some of the consideration that the Cassini estate would have received pursuant to a prior
judgment lien on property at 15 East 63rd Street in Manhattan will instead be turned over to the
Plan Administrator in settlement of claims that might otherwise be asserted under sections 363(j)
and/or 506(c) of the Bankruptcy Code. Marianne Nestor contends that the judgment lien was
invalid and also that the Cassini estate should not be giving any of “her” money to the Plan
Administrator. As I explained on September 22, 2026, however, the legitimacy of the Cassini
estate’s judgment lien, and its right to a distribution, was determined as part of the confirmation
of the plan of reorganization in this case, which is now final and from which no appeal ever was
filed. Even if the Cassini estate had no judgment claim, the proceeds that otherwise would have
been payable to it would have gone to a different secured creditor and not to the Debtor or any
other party. Furthermore, my role is to determine whether a settlement is in the interests of the
bankruptcy estate; if Marianne Nestor does not like decisions that the representatives of the
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Cassini estate are making, her complaints should be directed elsewhere. In addition, I have noted
before (and the parties have confirmed) that the Surrogate Court has entered an order in the
Cassini estate proceedings that bars Marianne Nestor from receiving any distributions in that
case, which simply underscores her lack of standing to complain about the proposed stipulation.
The many other complaints that Marianne Nestor has raised all relate to matters that I
have previously decided and that Ms. Nestor insists on repeating in virtually every filing that she
makes. They are not relevant to the stipulation that is now before me and are not properly
subject to reargument, and I will not comment on them further.
The terms of the settlement, as revised, are reasonable for the reasons stated above and
for the reasons I stated on the record on September 22. The proposed stipulation will be “So
Ordered” and entered on the record this same day.
DATED: New York, New York
October 9, 2026.
/s/ Michael E. Wiles
HONORABLE MICHAEL E. WILES
UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE
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