Owing nearly $100,000, Wild Truffle owner can't be found

Alison Dirr
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Wild Truffle closed in March 2015 in Grand Chute and is now at the center of a owner/landlord dispute.

APPLETON - The owner of the now-closed Wild Truffle restaurant owes his former landlord nearly $100,000. 

The problem: He's nowhere to be found. 

"We are here today because the defendant simply continues to disregard this court's authority," attorney Aaron McCann said at a contempt hearing Friday morning. 

The plaintiffs filed the contempt motion after Marc Waltzer failed to complete a financial disclosure form as required by a court order, McCann said. The plaintiffs need his financial information to collect on the judgment, they wrote in a court document. 

Outagamie County Judge Mitchell Metropulos previously awarded the plaintiffs $46,320 plus $4,302 in interest and $48,170 in attorneys' fees, according to court records. 

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Plaintiff Best West LLC's lawsuit alleged that Waltzer damaged the property at 5120 W. Michaels Drive in Grand Chute and owed back rent. Metropulos did not award the sum Best West sought for damages.

As in previous hearings, Waltzer wasn't present in court Friday. His attorney, Steven Frassetto, told Metropulos that Waltzer is not in the state and that he hadn't heard from his client in more than a month.

He said he sent the form to Waltzer's Greenville address, the only residence Frassetto has for him, thinking that mail was being forwarded. But he doesn't know if Waltzer received the form.

Waltzer failed to appear at a two-day trial in April, and didn't show up for subsequent hearings on the case, citing a medical condition that prevented him from making the trip from Florida. 

On Friday, Metropulos stayed a finding of contempt against Waltzer, including a $1,000 fine, and gave Waltzer 30 days to complete and return the financial disclosure form.

Alison Dirr: 920-996-7266 or adirr@gannett.com; on Twitter @AlisonDirr