Court denies Chrysler's non-TARP lenders' request to file their identities under seal

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, May 5 - A request by Chrysler LLC's non-TARP lenders to file their identities under seal due to fear of possible retaliation if such information was made public was denied Tuesday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

The lenders were "fearful" for their personal safety and damage for their professional reputation if their identities were made public because death threats against them had showed up on the internet and because president Barack Obama's public statements against them could incite a strong response in others, counsel for the lenders, Tom Lauria of White & Case LLC, told the court.

Judge Arthur Gonzalez denied the relief, saying their identities and other information like pricing was a requirement under the bankruptcy code and that the information had to be filed by 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

As part of his ruling, Gonzalez said the lenders did not demonstrate that law enforcement had considered the threats bona fide.

Lauria argued that the fears of the lenders, who hold more than $300 million of secured Chrysler debt, were heightened because their claims were singled out by the president in statements made when he announced Chrysler's bankruptcy filing last week.

The statements were in effect declaring "open season" on creditors, Lauria said, when judge Gonzalez suggested that such statements on behalf of Obama and others were only a matter of opinion.

Chrysler, an Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automotive company, filed for bankruptcy on April 30. Its Chapter 11 case number is 09-50002.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.