Lawyers painted a picture of fraud, dishonesty and mismanagement surrounding Lou Pearlman’s Trans Continental Airlines in order to persuade a bankruptcy judge Wednesday to let an interim trustee take over the financial affairs of Pearlman and his flagship company.
Judge Arthur B. Briskman agreed to have a trustee appointed as part of two involuntary bankruptcy cases filed against Pearlman and Trans Continental Airlines in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Orlando.
The cases were filed earlier this month by three banks and a venture-capital company. Integra Bank, American Bank of St. Paul, First National Bank & Trust Co. of Williston, N.D., and Tatonka Capital Corp. said they are collectively owed more than $112 million.
With a huge body of unsecured creditors, lawyers argued that the protection of a trustee is necessary, even before the bankruptcy has been approved.
“We believe that there is an emergency,” said Bob Rubin, an attorney for Tatonka Capital Corp. “The facts cry out for a solution.”
With national jurisdiction, Rubin suggested a trustee might be able to repatriate assets that may be located offshore, among other things.
Tags: trustee | Tatonka | Oversee | finances | bankruptcy | trans | PEARLMAN | PAUL | Orlando | Crime | CORP | continental
