Developer Brandon Chasen on Monday evaded questions about his personal finances and business dealings that coincided with the collapse of his Baltimore real estate empire.

At one point he testified that he wasn’t sure where a wire transfer of more than half a million dollars went, but he described the move as “asset protection.”

In August, Chasen, 39, sat for almost three hours during the first round of questioning in his personal bankruptcy case that continued Monday. The hearing is scheduled to resume on Nov. 13.

It’s one of several court cases related to his financial ruin. Chasen made an aggressive foray into Baltimore starting in about 2018, becoming a prominent real estate player, but agreed in July following a petition from three creditors to enter Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy. The unraveling of the real estate firm Chasen Cos. has left a morass of debts, unfinished construction projects and legal fights in its wake.

Chasen reported in court documents that he personally owes more than $71 million.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Nancy V. Alquist previously granted a petition from those same creditors — Sandy Spring Bank, Ferguson Enterprises Inc. and Southland Insulators of Maryland Inc. — to force Chasen Construction LLC, the construction wing of the firm, into Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy.

Chasen’s attorney Adam Freiman has said Chasen Cos. was at no point financially mismanaged and blamed its demise on a combination of factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, rising mortgage interest rates and the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The details that Chasen testified he had forgotten encompass matters small and large.

For instance, Chasen said he could not recall how much he spent on rent at his former home in North Baltimore’s affluent Guilford neighborhood. He leased the home for seven months beginning in 2024.

He said he’s currently “in between addresses” but now resides at the company’s former headquarters on Eastern Avenue in Fells Point on a month-to-month basis.

Then Chasen testified that he could not account for hundreds of thousands of dollars that he wired to his spouse, Catherine, over a nearly two-year period. That included one $432,000 payment. The couple is separated.

Chasen later evaded questions about why his construction business wired $601,000 last September to an escrow account at the Baker Donelson law firm.

“Mr. Chasen, where did it go?” asked Roger Schlossberg, the trustee in the construction bankruptcy case. “You’re a very smart guy. What did you do with the $600,000?”

“I don’t know the answer,” Chasen replied.

Next, Schlossberg pressed Chasen on the purpose of the transfer.

He eventually replied, “Asset protection.”

Meanwhile, Chasen testified that he deactivated his work email account for a time.

When Schlossberg asked Chasen whether he deleted his email archive, he responded that he did what all employees who leave companies do.

Schlossberg thanked him for his “very practiced answer.”

“It’s the honest answer,” Chasen responded.

Later, when Schlossberg revisited the topic, he asked Chasen if he had taken any steps to restore his archived emails.

Chasen said he’d already answered the question 10 times.

“Yeah,” Schlossberg said, “because I’m so incredulous as to the answers I’ve gotten so far.”