A New York Attorney General’s attorney, Letitia James, argued that a U.S. bankruptcy judge should reject the National Rifle Association’s Chapter 11 filing to “prevent bankruptcy from becoming a refuge for criminals. “.
The National Rifles Association’s bankruptcy filing was part of a blatant attempt to escape legitimate oversight in the NRA’s home state of New York, and should be fired, a lawyer said. of the state during the closing of the arguments in a trial this Monday.
The filing of Chapter 11 of the ANR in January is a “poster of bankruptcy filed in bad faith” and the court should reject it to “prevent bankruptcy from becoming a haven for criminals,” Gerrit Pronske said. Attorney General of New York Attorney Letitia James. , he argued.
U.S. bankruptcy judge Harlin Hale is holding a trial in Dallas on whether to dismiss the NRA filing, appoint an administrator to lead the group while bankrupt, or appoint an examiner to examine allegations of corruption and malpractice. James management in its front rows.
New York says filing for bankruptcy is illegitimate for several reasons.
They include filing for benefits in an independent lawsuit against ANR fraud in New York, lack of financial coercion to justify a Chapter 11 case, an offer to find a sympathetic place, and an internal process in which the management of the ‘ANR violated its own government. requirements, “intentionally deceiving” his counsel, keeping him in the dark about his plans to file for bankruptcy.
‘DUMPING’ New York
The NRA never hid its desire to get out of bankruptcy free from its 150-year-old New York home and with a new letter to Texas, Pronske told the court.
The day he submitted his reorganization, he posted a letter on his website announcing that he was “DUMPING” the state. As additional evidence, Pronske noted that the NRA established an association called Sea Girt LLC as part of its efforts to rejoin Texas, which it compared to “Decoy Duck LLC.”
He addressed some of his harshest remarks to Wayne LaPierre, the longtime head of the NRA, saying he accepted the luxurious travels of an NRA salesman without properly revealing them and retaliated against anyone who opposed them. .
This included Craig Spray, then chief financial officer, efforts to implement financial controls were thwarted by a “Wayne says” rule, according to Pronske.
Brian Mason, a lawyer for former NRA advertising agency Ackerman McQueen Inc., also defended the dismissal of the case.
Mason argued that there is an “overwhelming amount of evidence” indicating that the ANR is financially sound, including that it had $ 72 million in cash available.
“It is an indisputable fact that the ANR’s financial situation had nothing to do with the filing of this bankruptcy,” Mason said.
Mason told the court that the bankruptcy was filed fraudulently, without the approval of the plenary board, as required by the ANR statutes. He said the board had amended LaPierre’s employment agreement in early January just before the presentation in an ambiguous way that allowed him to deceive him and claim he had the authority to initiate the proceedings.
He said LaPierre stated that the board should have found out the meaning of his labor agreement, which gave him that authority.
The case is the National Rifle Association of America, 21-bk-30085, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, North Texas District (Dallas).
