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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowPhilip Boberschmidt of the downtown law firm of Boberschmidt and Powers has
been appointed trustee to oversee liquidation of Premier Properties USA – a task that begins today.
Boberschmidt, who
specializes in bankruptcy liquidations, gains control of the files
after U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Basil H. Lorch III on Friday reclassified the bankruptcy from Chapter 11 reorganization
to Chapter 7 liquidation.
The transition to Chapter 7 ended Premier founder Christopher P. White’s hopes of resurrecting
the Indianapolis development firm.
White had been trying to raise money to save the 15-year-old company, which developed
numerous high profile retail projects, including the Metropolis mall in Plainfield.
Premier sought bankruptcy protection
April 23, listing debts of more than $2.8 million to 20 creditors – not including millions of dollars in unpaid bills related
to specific properties. White and his company also face a slew of lawsuits, alleging unpaid bills, defaulted loans and check
fraud.
There won’t be many assets left, Henry Efroymson, an Ice Miller attorney who represents Atlanta-based Dominion
Capital Management LLC, said Friday. Dominion is a Premier creditor that took control of most of its properties last month.
“If
there’s going to be a distribution to creditors, it’s going to be very small,” Efroymson said. “There isn’t much left …
this was a management company.”
During the hearing, Efroymson also asked that Dominion Capital be given full access
to Premier’s records. He said his client had received the “lion’s share” of records on Premier’s properties, but needed to
review the company’s computer hard drives to retrieve the rest of the data.
Some of those hard drives have been moved
to White’s home, said William J. Tucker, Premier’s bankruptcy attorney. But Tucker said a backup of the files has been made
and he said that Premier has not hidden or removed anything.
Still, Efroymson said he was concerned, since the trustee
wouldn’t take control of the files until today.
“The concern now is there is nobody in place ensuring the data remains
on the computers and servers,” he said Friday.
Friday’s decision also will provide little relief to Premier’s former
employees, many of whom have not been paid for at least eight weeks.
“I don’t see that there’s going to be any funds
for former employees,” Efroymson said.
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