Laura Pignataro leveraged her certification as a woman-owned business to build Casabella Contracting of NY Inc. into a successful construction company, but when her marriage faltered, she claims, her estranged husband gained control and diverted assets as a court-appointed receiver.
Casabella petitioned for Chapter 11 protection on April 25 and asked U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains to restrain Frank Pignataro from interfering with the business.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean H. Lane granted Casabella a temporary restraining order on May 4 and directed Frank Pignataro to allow his wife to operate the company unhindered.
Casabella demonstrated serious questions as to the merits of its case, Lane ruled, and the harm to Casabella by not issuing the order far outweighed the harm to Frank Pignataro.
Laura Marcela Pignataro founded Casabella in 2011, according to a bankruptcy affidavit, owns all of the shares and is the president. She employed her husband and he helped manage the business.
Casabella, based in Buchanan, used its certification as a woman-owned enterprise to win state and federal construction project contracts. In 2014, for instance, it won a demolition subcontract on the Tappan Zee Bridge project.
The slogan on Casabella’s trucks asks, “Girls can’t do what?”
Revenues grew from $9.2 million in 2017 to $17.7 million in 2019, according to the affidavit.
But in 2019, according to Pignataro, marital problems surfaced and her husband tried to expand control by secretly meeting with contractors, project managers and union officials.
Last summer he filed for divorce and the judge appointed him as Casabella’s temporary receiver.
Since then, Laura Pignataro says, 13 lawsuits have been filed against the company, she has been banned from the office and she has been denied access to bank accounts and financial records.
Pignataro accuses her husband of transferring Casabella construction equipment to Casabella Landscaping Inc. — a Peekskill company he formed in 2017 — without paying fair price for the assets.
Casabella Contracting has declared $1.6 million in assets and $4 million in liabilities. Pignataro was unable to complete bankruptcy forms, she says, because her husband has refused to disclose any information for nearly seven months.
She accused him of misappropriation and conversion of assets. The bankruptcy case was filed, she said, “to successfully reorganize its debts and emerge as a profitable construction company.”
She also filed a Chapter 11 petition for 2111 Albany Post Road Corp., another  business she fully owns. The Montrose company owns and rents out a house, cabins and office-industrial facility.
Frank Pignataro was appointed receiver of that company too, she says, and he has managed it “in a manner designed to diminish value.” She claims, for instance, that he is trying to sell the property for significantly less than it is worth to a business associate “to whom he owes a significant financial debt.”
Attempts to get Frank Pignataro’s side of the story, by email sent to Casabella Landscaping and to two attorneys who represent him.
West Harrison attorney James J. Rufo represents Casabella Contracting. White Plains attorney Anne J. Penachio represents 2111 Albany Post Road Corp.
