BankruptcyProf Blog

Borders Seeks To Hand Out $8.3 Million In Bonuses

"Book retailer Borders Group Inc., which is shuttering hundreds of stores in a bid to stay alive, is seeking bankruptcy court approval to hand out as much as $8.3 million in executive bonuses, including nearly $1.7 million to President Mike Edwards.

Papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan outline a proposed bonus program that is keyed to the company either reorganizing under Chapter 11 or selling itself as a going concern."

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Dr. Murray Propofol Pharmacy Shut Down

"The Las Vegas pharmacy that supplied Dr. Conrad Murray with massive amounts of Propofol for Michael Jackson has been shut down ... TMZ has learned.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ ... "Applied Pharmacy has been shut down by the State of Nevada and will file Bankruptcy in 90 days."

The pharmacy shipped multiple packages of Propofol to Murray at his girlfriend's Santa Monica address in the months before MJ died."

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Ex-lawyer gets jail in bankruptcy fraud

"A former Wakefield, Mass., lawyer was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison for failing to disclose winning lottery tickets he had purchased to a bankruptcy trustee and for filing a false tax return."

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Employees, members of Club Fitness wake up to locked doors, bankruptcy note

"Club Fitness employees were enrolling people in new memberships on Tuesday. But when they showed up for work on Wednesday morning, they found their keys didn’t work, and a bankruptcy notice had been posted."

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Fund Wants Bling From Steelers’ Charlie Batch

"A Pennsylvania real-estate fund is going after the glory–and some of the bling–that comes with Pittsburgh Steelers player Charlie Batch’s athletic fame.

A federal bankruptcy judge is allowing Primerock Real Estate Fund, owed $820,000 by the Steelers backup quarterback, to continue its legal pursuit of the things that the 36-year-old Batch used as collateral to obtain a loan in November 2009, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review."

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Auditor says Victorville near insolvency

"VICTORVILLE - Ongoing losses, net asset deficiencies in major funds and a lack of liquidity has put this city on the brink of insolvency, an auditor has determined.

Auditing firm Mayer Hoffman McCann said in its comprehensive audit released last week that "substantial doubt exists about the city's ability to continue as a going concern." A going concern refers to a business that operates without the threat of liquidation for at least 12 months.

For months, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been investigating the city's bond sales. The probe remains ongoing. And for the last two years, the Grand Jury has been investigating the city's finances."

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Another Oregon resort goes bankrupt

"Before the Great Recession, there was a killing to be made developing golf-themed resorts in Central Oregon.

Thornburgh Resort Co. LLC, which aimed to transform a 2,000-plus acre ranch near Bend into the swankiest golf-themed resort of all, is the latest casualty of the rush.

On March 11, Kameron DeLashmutt, whose family ranched the land for generations, filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Oregon after his vision of building the region’s most luxurious residences around golf courses designed by celebrity players failed to materialize.

An investor said the bank had foreclosed on the development site. The bankruptcy petition is silent on bank loans."

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Feb. US bankruptcy claim trades dip, value rises

"WILMINGTON, Del., March 22 (Reuters) - The value of U.S. bankruptcy claims that traded in February hit an eight-month high due to a handful of big transfers involving cases such as Mesa Air Group Inc, according to data released on Tuesday.

But overall activity continued to dry up as large bankruptcy filings evaporate and traders are left shifting through smaller cases, according to SecondMarket, which runs a bankruptcy claims trading marketplace."

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Madoff, WaMu, Borders, Lehman, Viceroy Resort: Bankruptcy

"March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Fred Wilpon, Sterling Equities Inc., the owners of the New York Mets baseball club, and Wilpon’s friends, family and associates filed a motion on March 20 to dismiss the newly revised, 373-page complaint where the trustee liquidating Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities Inc. seeks to recover $300 million in fictitious profits and $700 million in principal repayments.

The Wilpon group, in their 94-page brief supporting dismissal, say they were “victims” who were “defrauded by Madoff” and “never should have been targeted by the trustee.” They say there are no facts to support the trustee’s complaint.

The motion to dismiss won’t be decided until late June, at the earliest."

Read more here.