The owner of the Scrub Island resort in the British Virgin Islands is fighting its lender to use U.S. bankruptcy protection to rework its more than $130 million worth of debt, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Lawyers for Scrub Island Resort, Spa & Marina's owner said that bank officials shouldn't win their request to dismiss the resort's bankruptcy case, which was filed on Nov. 19 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Tampa, Fla., because of the resort's location in the Caribbean sea. In court papers, the resort owner's lawyers said that its headquarters have been located in Tampa since 2005 and that it uses U.S. bank accounts to pay some of its 140 workers. Last month, FirstBank Puerto Rico officials who said they're owed $120 million from the resort owner asked Judge Michael G. Williamson to throw out the bankruptcy case, which has gotten in the way of its attempt to foreclose on the 230-acre island and its 53-room resort.
