"Walter Cicack, an attorney for First United American Companies, told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez that Murray changed the auction process only days before, deciding not to hold a round Wednesday where parties could outbid each other. Sealed bids were submitted last week, and the trustee chose only from those, Cicack said."
"“We’re all going to an evidentiary hearing and I’m going to figure out exactly what happened,” he said. “No one should feel comfortable with the results of this auction.”
An exact date of next week’s hearing was not immediately set.
After the hearing, Jones said on his show that he thought the auction was unfairly rigged and expressed optimism that the judge would nullify the sale."
Changing the bidding process days in advance and then accepting the lower bid (out of two) seems less normal though. I think it's obvious they're trying to stop Jones and his associates from simply buying back the business.
I'm not sure of the legal details but apparently the judge had misgivings about the procedure so here we are
A trustee's responsibility is to creditors. While directing the disposition of assets, a trustee may judge that a secondary offer better serves the creditors.
In this case, the creditors are the Sandy Hook families who were wronged by Jones. It is my understanding that they had a hand in The Onion's offer. I suspect they signaled a desire for this sale to the trustee - but that is just a guess.
source:prepped personal bankruptcy cases for a couple of years
Thanks. Something I wish the reporting would note is how common this kind of thing is. Is it normal, and do the results change often/ever with these reviews? Questions that would be good for an AP journalist to look into when they know what conspiracy-minded people watching a case like this will assume.
I can't fault a judge for wanting to make sure everything is copasetic with the kind of numbers and personalities involved.
"Walter Cicack, an attorney for First United American Companies, told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez that Murray changed the auction process only days before, deciding not to hold a round Wednesday where parties could outbid each other. Sealed bids were submitted last week, and the trustee chose only from those, Cicack said."
"“We’re all going to an evidentiary hearing and I’m going to figure out exactly what happened,” he said. “No one should feel comfortable with the results of this auction.”
An exact date of next week’s hearing was not immediately set.
After the hearing, Jones said on his show that he thought the auction was unfairly rigged and expressed optimism that the judge would nullify the sale."