Category Archives: Bankruptcy

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) Another National Grid customer is being used as a pawn in the utilitys fight for a gas pipeline.

A Vietnamese restaurateur now faces bankruptcy.

This comes as the states Public Service Commission tells CBS2 in each of the cases it has so far examined, the utility was wrong to deny service to its customers.

CBS2s political reporter Marcia Kramer continues to demand answers from those responsible.

ARE YOU A NATIONAL GRID CUSTOMER WHO HAS BEEN DENIED SERVICE? TELL US ABOUT IT BY CLICKING HERE

The sign in the window of Pho 86, a Vietnamese restaurant in Bensonhurst, says coming soon. It has been up for three months. If it doesnt come down soon, the owner will have to declare bankruptcy.

Every night, I can not sleep. I think about the restaurant. No gas, and my dream, my future, gone, Peter Lee told Kramer.

Hes another victim of the gas moratorium declared by National Grid as it battles with the state over a new pipeline.

Lee borrowed money and spent his life savings to open his restaurant, believing that when the renovations were done, National Grid would turn on the gas for his six stoves. They said no.

No gas. No reason. Nobody know, Lee said.

Nobody told you when you wanted to open your restaurant you wouldnt be able to get gas? Kramer asked.

No one tell me, nobody, he said. Its horrible.

If National Grid doesnt relent in two months, hell be forced to close up shop before anyone gets a chance to taste his food.

I think America, everything good, and cannot be like happen to my life, Lee said. Like that.

Kramer took Lees case to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as she has in a number of other cases. Cuomo asked the state Public Service Commission to look into it, and they are.

This comes as a department spokesman offered a stunning revelation: In each of the six cases it has probed, it found National Grid acted improperly. The spokesman said in a statement:

National Grid has justified the moratorium as a mechanism to prevent increased demand for natural gas, but in the cases that we have examined to date, the company did not demonstrate that the customers would in fact increase demand.

National Grid was ordered to provide service. The company, not happy about it, said it will simply exacerbate the current supply shortage, and potentially put the system at risk.

Peter Lees story is similar to the 2,600 other home and business owners in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island denied service.

Brooklyn Assemblyman Robert Carroll says the state should think about finding a new gas supplier.

What I think theyre doing is trying to hold hostage those 2,600 people so that the Department of Environmental Conservation will change their opinion on a pipeline theyve deemed environmentally unsound, Carroll said.

Kramer asked to interview the president of National Grid, but a company spokesperson said not at this time. Shell continue to ask.

State officials say that consumers considering home or business renovations that require shutting off the gas supply should check with the utility first to make sure service will be restored.

ARE YOU A NATIONAL GRID CUSTOMER WHO HAS BEEN DENIED SERVICE? TELL US ABOUT IT BY CLICKING HERE

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Pipeline Pawns: Restaurateur Faces Bankruptcy As National Grid Fights For New Pipeline - CBS New York

Jewish deli brand Kenny & Zukes, which includes a sandwich shop, a bagel bakery, and a counter in the airport, is filing for bankruptcy. According to Willamette Week, owner Ken Gordon made the choice to tackle mounting debts.

Earlier this week, Gordon sent an email to investors announcing plans to reorganize under Chapter 11. Gordon told the alt-weekly that the decision was brought on by a recent civil suit, which claims the restaurant owes $184,494 to a local food distributor. By filing for bankruptcy, Gordon can pay off the restaurants debts in full while lowering the overall monthly payments.

Gordon says the restaurant is in no danger of closing, and is, in fact, considering further expansion. Gordon says the restaurant may raise prices on menu items, but the owner does not plan to lay off any employees as a result of the decision.

There has been some breaking news that were going through a Chapter 11 reorganization. This is true. The inference is that we are in trouble and our future bleak. NOTHING could be further from the truth, Gordon writes in a post on the restaurants Facebook page. The reorganization is due to past debt, and we have a plan to make all our creditors whole, and to give us some breathing room to do what we do best.

The original restaurant has been open since 2007, when Gordon and then-partner Nick Zukin decided to get into the deli game. Zukin is no longer affiliated with the restaurants.

Kenny & Zukes [Official] Kenny & Zukes [Facebook] Portland Pastrami Staple Kenny & Zukes Is Filing For Bankruptcy [Willamette Week] Previous Kenny & Zukes coverage [EPDX]

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Classic Portland Deli Kenny & Zukes Is Filing for Bankruptcy - Eater Portland

Final bidding procedures and deadlines will be announced once approved by the court.

This is the end for this school. The only thing left to do after this is sell the property.

Patch reports:

College Of New Rochelle Files For Bankruptcy

The College of New Rochelle officially filed for bankruptcy Friday, and the main campus will be sold via an auction. The college, which closed its doors Aug. 10 after 115 years, filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.

According to a spokesperson, Mercy College will lease the campus and utilize the facilities for educational activities through 2020.

A&G Realty Partners and B6 Real Estate Advisors, who were retained by CNT as real estate advisors, announced that the deadline to submit qualifying bids to participate in the bankruptcy auction is anticipated to be in early November.

Final bidding procedures and deadlines will be announced once approved by the court.

Mark Podgainy of Getzler Henrich & Associates, the interim chief restructuring officer for the college, said the bankruptcy filing is the final chapter for the institution.

Over the course of the last 115 years, CNR has provided more than 87,000 students women and men, both traditional age and adult learners with the opportunity to better their lives through education, he said.

We are pleased to have two well-respected and experienced firms in A&G Realty and B6 Real Estate Advisors to oversee the sale of the campus as it transitions to its next chapter, Podgainy said.

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College Of New Rochelle Officially Files For Bankruptcy - legal Insurrection

LUBBOCK and AMARILLO, Texas Court records that were filed Tuesday and made publicly available on Friday showed the FBIs Amarillo office began an investigation into Reagor Dykes on February 1, 2018.

In August 2018 Reagor Dykes filed for bankruptcy one day after Ford Credit Motor Company went public with allegations of fraud and default.

On Friday, federal prosecutors released a statement saying former Reagor Dykes employees Sheila Evans Miller, 52, and Diana Herrera Urias, 53, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. They did so in front of a federal magistrate in Amarillo, according to prosecutors.

Millers plea deal calls for no more than five years in prison and restitution of roughly $23 million. Urias plea deal calls for the same terms.

Their former boss, Shane Smith, pleaded guilty on a conspiracy charge in June and will be sentenced at a later date to more than 20 years in prison. He agreed to be responsible for $50 million of restitution. Smith was the Chief Financial Officer.

Link: Factual Resume of Sheila Evans Miller

Link: Factual Resume of Diana Herrera Urias

Court records said Miller, Urias and Smith were running an extensive check-kiting scheme. Check kiting is a form of trading checks between bank accounts to make it look like the accounts have money when they do not.

Court records said the check kiting was done by Reagor Dykes at FirstCapital Bank, Aim Bank, FirstBank and Trust, IBC Bank, Liberty Capital Bank, Peoples Bank, Vista Bank, and Branch Banking & Trust Company.

The FBI learned in its investigation that the check-kiting scheme grew over time and, just prior to the collapse on June 26, 2018, RDAG had an entire team at its headquarters designated to kite checks, newly released court records said.

Related Story: Images tell the story: a look inside the former Reagor Dykes Ford dealership in Plainview

Employees under Smiths supervision would every day make up random dollar figures on checks until they totaled the amount needed to cover each negative balance.

RDAG had an entire team at its headquarters designated to kite checks.

The court records quoted emails dating back to October 2, 2017 wherein Smith was communicating openly with other employees about how much money needed to be covered. They referred to these checks as blue checks.

The amount needed, for example on October 2, 2017, was $280,000 or more, according to court records.

By July 2018, the amount of daily checks was more than $5.4 million although the court records said some of these were possibly legitimate. Most were not, court records said.

The newly released court records do not say why the case came to the FBIs office in Amarillo rather than Lubbock where Reagor Dykes was based.

The newest court records also do not reveal why the fraud continued until Ford discovered a problem during an emergency audit in the last week of July 2018. Fords initial discovery, according to previous court records, was floor-plan fraud not check kiting.

A floor-plan is a particular kind of loan to cover automobiles at a dealership. Ford said Reagor Dykes falsified sales records to put off or avoid paying money that was owed on the floor plan.

Whats left of Reagor Dykes remained in bankruptcy on Friday. A plan has been proposed to sell the locations and pay off some of the debts.

Related Story: Two Reagor Dykes Employees Plead Guilty To Bank Fraud Conspiracy

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FBI was on the case months before Reagor Dykes filed bankruptcy - KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com

NEW YORK First the bad news: Retailers across many sectors closed more than 7,000 stores in the first half and the pace of retail bankruptcies picked up during that period, according to BDOs Bi-Annual Bankruptcy Update out this month. Whats more there are a few furniture and bedding retailers making the bankruptcy list.

The good news: Only one furniture-industry connected retailer was listed on a separate store closings table (not necessarily tied to bankruptcies) for closing 25 or more stores in the first half.

Also, BDO said it expects the pace of bankruptcies to slow down in this second half (more good news), but not the rate of closings (bad news).

The international accounting and business consulting firm said that bankruptcy pace accelerated since late 2018, noting last years holiday sales failed to meet expectations, with December retail sales dropping 1.6% from the month prior the weakest sales performance since December 2009.

That lackluster performance contributed to 10 bankruptcy filings in the first quarter of this year alone, BDO said, including the petitions filed by Payless ShoeSource, Gymboree and Charlotte Russe. A table in the report lists 14 retailers that filed for protection in the first half. Home furnishings industry names included Innovative Mattress Solutions, which filed in January, Z Gallerie filing in March and Hollander Sleep Products in May. The industry filings culminated in asset sales for IMS and Z Gallerie and reorganization and a debt-for-equity swap at Hollander, a maker of pillows, comforters, foam toppers and other sleep products.

BDO listed 19 retailers that have announced closings of 25 or more stores in the first half (led by Payless 2,354 closures) for a total of 7,282 stores. Rent-A-Center (125 stores closures announce) was the only furniture-centric company on that list. Apparel and footwear retailers accounted for more than 60% of all the closings and planned closings.

In an outlook section, BDO said, Despite the large number of bankruptcy filings and store closures, overall retail sales remained solid through the first half of 2019 and continue to show positive signs, thanks to a strong economy, record low unemployment and rising wages. These positives lead the firm to believe the risk of a significant downturn for the rest of this year is slim, although it added that retailers should remain cautious.

Some of the headwinds or current conditions that could put pressure on retailers and consumers going forward, include ongoing tariffs and expected increases on Chinese import tariffs and consumer debt, which reached record levels (more than $4 trillion) including rising mortgage, credit card and student loan debt.

Looking ahead through the end of 2019, we expect to see additional bankruptcy filings but at a slower pace than the first half of the year and for the heightened rate of store closures to continue, BDO said.

For two more takes on recent store closings and opposing views on what it all means, see this story.

Please feel free to email or call me with all of your retail news and tips, including expansion news, successful merchandising and marketing strategies and anything else you would like to see covered by Furniture/Today. Contact me directly at cengel@furnituretoday.com or 336-605-1129.

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BDO: Retail bankruptcies and store closings climb in first half - Furniture Today

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Pacific Gas and Electric Co. bondholders and wildfire victims have joined forces and proposed their own reorganization plan as they try to wrest control of the bankrupt company from its stockholders.

The two groups told PG&Es bankruptcy judge Thursday their proposal would include a $24 billion settlement to pay everyone owed money because of fires started by the companys power lines in recent years, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

PG&E has offered to pay individual victims from a trust capped at $8.4 billion and reached settlements with insurers and local governments of $11 billion and $1 billion, respectively.

The bondholders proposal would invest $28.4 billion in exchange for a 58.8% stake in the utilitys parent PG&E Corp., diluting the firms who currently own shares of the company. The investment would fund creation of a $24 billion trust, in cash and stock, to pay claims from various fires in which the company was involved.

The trust would be acceptable to wildfire victims because they would designate someone to manage the process, attorneys for the committees of wildfire victims and bondholders involved in the PG&E case said in their joint filing.

In an email, PG&E spokesman James Noonan noted the two settlements the company has already reached with parties in the bankruptcy case and said the company is committed to working with the remaining individual plaintiffs to fairly and reasonably resolve their claims.

___

Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com

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PG&E fire victims, bondholders offer PG&E bankruptcy exit plan - Manteca Bulletin

Dive Brief:

Charming Charlie's IP sale is a reminder that there is still value in the brand of a defunct retailer. Peress said in court papers that Hilco had contact with nearly 500 potential buyers of Charming Charlie's assets. Ultimately, 13 interested potential buyers signed non-disclosure agreements and five submitted bids ahead of deadline. The opening bid was $200,000.

All of the women's apparel and accessories retailer's stores are now closed, Peress noted in court papers, and its e-commerce site currently notifies customers that it is not taking orders but to keep checking back. Included in the sale along with trademarks and typical brand signifiers are hordes of data from Charming Charlie's mailing lists and loyalty program.

The IP of retailers that have wound down can still fetch big dollars in bankruptcies. Some examples from the current period of retail consolidation:

The sales represent the range of potential buyers that go bargain shopping at retailer fire sales, among them brand-holding companies, rivals and investors. In Charming Charlie's case, the man who created the retailer's brand known for its color-coded merchandising scheme came back to fetch it out of bankruptcy.

It's not clear yet what he'll do with it, but the options are several. Some retail brands end up on product labels, some reemerge as online-only players and a fair number come back with physical footprints. In that latter category recently are Toys R Us, Bon-Ton, Charlotte Russe and H.H. Gregg. In every case, the resurrected physical footprints are modest, very modest even, relative to those that were liquidated.

However, the money and effort involved are reminders that retailers fail for all kinds of reasons and ultimately because of a mismatch between expenses and sales in a given moment in time but failure doesn't mean that those brands have zero value. What's left may be greatly diminished, but it's still often a better deal than building a brand from scratch.

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Charming Charlie IP sold for $1.1M in bankruptcy - Retail Dive

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) Bishop Malone says hes close to making a decision on whether the Buffalo Diocese will file for bankruptcy but he says hes not there yet.

Today on WBEN Radio, the bishop spoke about the decision to either litigate cases filed under the Child Victims Act or file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The bishop says there have been 138 cases filed against the diocese so far. He expects for there to be around 250 to 275 cases filed under the Child Victims Act.

Although the bishop is not tipping his hand yet, he did say that bankruptcy could be better for the victims of clergy sex abuse.

The best argument for Chapter 11 is that it truly is the best balance of justice for the victims. Im told when you litigate these cases, whether they are litigated or whether they are settled, then some of the first ones to come through will be huge, huge amounts which will pretty much eat up all the resources so that all the victims down the line may get very little or nothing, Malone said.

Malone said the decision on whether to file for bankruptcy will not be made in the next few days.

Last week the Rochester Catholic Diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

They are the first catholic diocese in new york state to do so.

Link:

Bishop says bankruptcy could be best balance of justice for sex abuse victims - WIVB.com - News 4

Students at Union Theological Seminary prayed to a display of plants set up in the chapel of the school, prompting the institution to issue a statement explaining the practice as many on social media mocked them.

"Today in chapel, we confessed to plants," the nation's oldest independent seminary declared Tuesday on Twitter. "Together, we held our grief, joy, regret, hope, guilt and sorrow in prayer; offering them to the beings who sustain us but whose gift we too often fail to honor. What do you confess to the plants in your life?"

The ceremony, which is part of professor Claudio Carvalhaes class Extractivism: A Ritual/Liturgical Response, drew ridicule from many on Twitter, some of whom accused the seminary and students of having lost their minds.

In response, the seminary's Twitter account began retweeting users who defended the ritual and also issued a statement spanning a lengthy 10-tweet thread.

"We've had many questions about yesterday's chapel," the statement read in part. "In worship, our community confessed the harm we've done to plants, speaking directly in repentance. This is a beautiful ritual."

"We are in the throes of a climate emergency, a crisis created by humanity's arrogance, our disregard for Creation," the statement continued. "Far too often, we see the natural world only as resources to be extracted for our use, not divinely created in their own rightworthy of honor, thanks and care. We need to unlearn habits of sin and death. And part of that work must be building new bridges to the natural world. And that means creating new spiritual and intellectual frameworks by which we understand and relate to the plants and animals with whom we share the planet."

Encouraging churches to turn from "theologies that encourage humans to dominate and master the Earth," Union asserted that "we must birth new theology, new liturgy to heal and sow, replacing ones that reap and destroy."

"No one would have blinked if our chapel featured students apologizing to each other," the statement went on. "What's different (and the source of so much derision) is that we're treating plants as fully created beings, divine Creation in its own rightnot just something to be consumed. Because plants aren't capable of verbal response, does that mean we shouldn't engage with them? So, if you're poking fun, we'd ask only that you also spend a couple moments asking: Do I treat plants and animals as divinely created beings?"

Confessing to the plants was "just one expression of worship here at Union," a spokesperson for the seminary told the Washington Examiner. "Union Theological Seminary is grounded in the Christian tradition, and at the same time deeply committed to inter-religious engagement. Unions daily chapel is, by design, a place where people from all the wondrous faith traditions at Union can express their beliefs. And, given the incredible diversity of our community, that means worship looks different every day!"

"One day, you may come in to find a traditional Anglican communion, another day you may enter into a service of Buddhist meditation or Muslim prayer," the spokesperson continued. "Another, you may find a Pentecostal praise service or a silent Quaker meeting. We create a home where people can worship side by side, in traditions similar to and very different to their own. Through this process, we learn from our neighbors and discern our own faith more deeply."

Affiliated with neighboring Columbia University in Upper Manhattan, Union became the nation's first independent seminary in 1893 when it sundered from the Presbyterian Church after the denomination tried to oust one of its professors for claiming the Bible is not inspired by God, among other things.

German pastor and anti-Nazi dissident Dietrich Bonhoeffer was among the school's more famous alumni, who left after escaping the Third Reich to teach there briefly in 1939. Appalled by the liberalism of its students, Bonhoeffer wrote they "are completely clueless with respect to what dogmatics is really about. They are not familiar with even the most basic questions. They become intoxicated with liberal and humanistic phrases, are amused at the fundamentalists, and yet basically are not even up to their level."

Bonhoeffer remembered that students "openly [laughed]" at a lecture on sin and forgiveness, and accused the seminary of having "forgotten what Christian theology in its very essence stands for." Disillusioned, he decided to return to Germany to resist the Nazi regime, where he was executed at the Flossenbrg concentration camp in 1945 for his role in the July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

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'Absolute theological bankruptcy': Union Theological Seminary students confess climate sins to plants - Washington Examiner

CONDITION. THE DRIVER OF THE OTHER VEHICLE WAS NOT INJURED. LIONHEART EVENT GROUP FILED FOR CHAPTER SEVEN THIS MORNING. THE COMPANY SAYS NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO UNSECURED CREDITORS AFTER ANY ADMINISTRATION EXPENSES ARE PAID. BACK IN JULY OFFICIAL SAID THEY WERE FORCED TO CANCEL THE REGATTA DAYS BEFORE IT WAS SET TO START BECAUSE LIONHEART MISLED THE BOARD AND THE CITY ABOUT PAYMENTS, INSURANCE AND OTHER DETAILS ABOUT THE FESTIVAL. ALLEGHENY COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE FILED A LAWSUIT AGAINST

Company hired to organize Three Rivers Regatta files for bankruptcy

Updated: 12:28 PM EDT Sep 16, 2019

The promotion company that was hired to put together this year's Three Rivers Regatta has filed for bankruptcy.LionHeart Event Group filed for Chapter 7 Monday morning.In the filing, the company says no funds are available to unsecured creditors after any administration expenses are paid.In July, officials said they were forced to cancel the Three Rivers Regatta because LionHeart Event Group misled the board and the city of Pittsburgh about payments, insurance and other details.The Allegheny County Sheriff's Office filed a lawsuit against LionHeart Event Group, claiming it did not pay the nearly $33,000 in security services provided during the Three Rivers Regatta in 2018.

The promotion company that was hired to put together this year's Three Rivers Regatta has filed for bankruptcy.

LionHeart Event Group filed for Chapter 7 Monday morning.

In the filing, the company says no funds are available to unsecured creditors after any administration expenses are paid.

In July, officials said they were forced to cancel the Three Rivers Regatta because LionHeart Event Group misled the board and the city of Pittsburgh about payments, insurance and other details.

The Allegheny County Sheriff's Office filed a lawsuit against LionHeart Event Group, claiming it did not pay the nearly $33,000 in security services provided during the Three Rivers Regatta in 2018.

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Company hired to organize Three Rivers Regatta files for bankruptcy - WTAE Pittsburgh