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Thursday, April 29, 2010
Ind. Courts - "Judge Shields Majestic Star Execs From City Lawsuit"
The WSJ's Bankruptcy Blog has this entry this afternoon by Peg Brickley -- some quotes:
The heat is off Chief Executive Don Barden and other Majestic Star Casinos leaders, thanks to a bankruptcy court ruling Thursday shielding them from the wrath of Gary, Ind., at least for now.Gary says millions that the gambling company was supposed to hold in escrow found their way into the Majestic Star’s Chapter 11 coffers, instead. Majestic Star disputes the debt. It’s a “criminal matter,” to Gary, said its attorney, Michael W. Hile of Katz & Korin.
Judge Kevin Gross disagreed, noting that, at bottom, it’s a fight over a share of revenue from Majestic Star’s riverboat gaming. It’s only money, the judge said, invoking the automatic stay of bankruptcy to halt a lawsuit the city filed under Indiana’s Criminal Victims Act.
With Barden and other members of Majestic Star’s “most senior management” targeted as defendants, Gary’s suit threatens to distract them from their efforts to reorganize, the judge said.
Distract them? Some members of Gary’s City Council have sponsored a resolution asking the Indiana Gaming Commission to strip Majestic Star of its casino license and put the riverboats into a receivership. * * *
Already badly beaten up by unemployment and economic woes when the recession hit, Gary is in such deep trouble now that a state court judge who looked at the dispute earlier found the cash in question would be safer in Majestic Star’s hands than it would be in the hands of the city, until the quarrel is resolved.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 29, 2010 04:01 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts