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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowFishers-based bill-collection firm Deca Financial Services LLC missed a March 17 deadline to come up with more than $11 million to avoid involuntary Chapter 11 reorganization sought by its creditors.
That means bankruptcy trustee Ellen Fujawa will take control of the firm, which in 2012 was named one of the fastest growing Indiana companies and offered $2.5 million in conditional tax credits from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. for its job-creation plans.
Deca, founded in 2010, told the bankruptcy court earlier this month that it had lined up financing to pay creditors to avoid being forced into Chapter 11. But David J. Tipton, an attorney for the company, said the plan hit a snag when a potential purchaser of company land pulled out at the last minute.
Earlier this month, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robyn Moberly told Deca if it failed to make the deadline the trustee would immediately assume control of the company.
The company is believed to have 80 employees and about 200 customers, based on court documents.
Deca’s problems came to a head late last year. BMO Harris Bank alleged the company owed it millions of dollars in loans. The bank tried to recover the money in Hamilton Superior Court, and the company’s accounts were frozen.
Deca said it then couldn’t return money to customers for whom it collected money from delinquent consumers. It also cited health issues with CEO and founder Todd Wolfe, and issues with managers who were later dismissed. Creditors also include the Indianapolis law firm Barnes & Thornburg, which said it is owed more than $800,000.
In March 2012, Deca told the state it planned to spend $2.6 million on an expansion that would boost employment from 130 to 270 by 2015.
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