court filing

Minnesota hog farms say they were fleeced by Windom pork plant’s bankruptcy

The HyLife pork plant in Windom, Minn., owes money to an increasingly long list of creditors that now includes hog farmers, according to bankruptcy filings.

On May 12, attorneys for farmer Greg Strobel filed a court document in Delaware testifying that his farm transferred hogs to HyLife Foods in Windom the same day the pork slaughterhouse filed for bankruptcy.

More of his hogs were delivered into HyLife’s possession the next day, April 28. The Pemberton, Minn., farmer, and many others like him, have yet to be paid for those deliveries as the list of HyLife’s creditors grows in bankruptcy court.

HyLife owes Strobel more than $950,000, his attorneys said in a court filing, “Strobel Farms operated under the Agreement and delivered [hogs] to [HyLife] on April 27 and 28.”

The fallout from HyLife Windom’s sudden demise — including a shortfall in the local school’s funding, an unfinished housing project and the city’s wastewater treatment upgrades — continues to ripple throughout the region.

More than 1,000 workers will likely be laid off at the start of June, and bankers, contractors and electricians who are owed money are filing petitions in the pork processor’s bankruptcy case, seeking to claw back what

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Modern Vascular files for bankruptcy following Republic investigation

Modern Vascular files for bankruptcy following Republic investigation

Every morning Charles Raymond realizes how much he lost.

He prioritizes God, family and work. He’s 66, he was successful in business, and he has supported eight kids. 

He has a tiger tattoo on his right forearm, a dragon on his left. Inspired by Bruce Lee, he’s a kung fu fighter who feared no evil thanks to his potent kick.

Then he went to Modern Vascular.

After eight surgeries, which he says weren’t all necessary, his left leg was damaged. Other doctors tried to save it. But ultimately, it was amputated.

He’s grown dependent on his wife of 42 years. But she was driven from their bed because he wakes in the night screaming in pain.

When morning comes, the 6-foot-2 former college football player has to remember he’s missing a leg. He has forgotten before, and he fell.

He twists into his wheelchair and maneuvers to the bathroom, squeezing through a narrow doorway to get to the toilet. 

To get to breakfast in the kitchen, he grinds his wheelchair over carpet in his Glendale home. The resistance feels like lifting weights.

Still, he has energy for a fight.

He saw Arizona Republic stories about Modern Vascular that revealed the

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Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner accused of fraud in bankruptcy case

Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner was accused of fraud in connection with his ongoing Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.

Aliya Growth Fund, a creditor in the bankruptcy of Lehner and his wife, Donya, petitioned the court to require the NHL goalie to pay back $4.75 million tied to a loan the company provided, according to new court documents.

In a separate court filing, American Express is seeking the repayment of nearly $100,000 in charges made by the Lehners.

Both Aliya and American Express made claims of fraud against the Lehners in the court filings.

The Review-Journal reached out to the Lehners’ attorney for comment but didn’t receive a response.

The Lehners filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in December with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Las Vegas. They owe creditors $27.3 million against personal property of $5.1 million, according to documents filed with the court in February.

The majority of the Lehners’ debt is tied to Phoenix-based solar technology company SolarCode LLC; a reptile farm in Plato, Missouri; a 20 percent stake in a reptile and avian zoo in Punta Gorda, Florida; and other personal property.

The couple used the loan from Aliya to pay down debts tied to two other loans:

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Chris Pettit wants trial postponed to negotiate possible plea deal

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia agreed Monday to reset the trial to May 22 from March 20 after Pettit’s attorney asked for a 90-day delay.

Mathew T. Allen, Pettit’s defense lawyer, said in a court filing last week that he needed the extra time to review “the voluminous” amount of documents filed in the case. But he also wanted more time “to have thorough and adequate negotiations (with prosecutors) in an attempt
to resolve this matter
without a trial.”

Last month, the judge agreed to push back the trial’s Feb. 13 start date by five weeks after Allen said he needed more time to review the material in the case.

On ExpressNews.com:

Chris Pettit’s forgotten clients: He settled lawsuits for Latino clients who didn’t get their money

Allen didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday.

Garcia set a May 11 deadline for the parties to notify the court of any plea agreement. If no deal is reached, a pretrial conference will be held May 18.

A grand jury indicted Pettit, 55, in December on five counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering, charges that could land him in prison for years if convicted. He has

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FTX Paid Crypto Bankruptcy Lawyers $12 Million for Early Work

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX Ltd. paid its lead lawyers more than $12 million to handle the earliest portions of the closely watched Chapter 11 case, according to a Wednesday court filing.

Law firm Sullivan & Cromwell received a $12 million retainer from an FTX-controlled company shortly before the exchange’s Nov. 11 bankruptcy filing, the filing shows. The firm has drawn a little more than $3 million of that, largely for work done in the days leading up to the rushed bankruptcy filing.

Quinn Emanuel is also working for FTX and its board of directors as special counsel in a litigation capacity, looking for legal claims the bankruptcy estate might be able to bring. The firm received about $575,000 in the three months leading up to FTX’s filing, according to another court filing.

Landis Rath & Cobb, whose lawyers are FTX’s local Delaware counsel, received a $300,000 retainer in the 90 days leading up the filing.

FTX imploded in spectacular fashion in early November, leading to the firing of co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried and a rushed Chapter 11 filing of more than 100 FTX-related companies. In a sign of the hurried pace, FTX didn’t submit typical “first-day” filings until

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