April 4, 2000
Casmyn Corp. Announces Nearly Unanimous Plan Confirmation
Casmyn Corp., Agoura Hills, Calif., a gold mining company, announced
that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California
confirmed the company's second amended reorganization plan on Friday,
according to a newswire report. The effective date for the plan is April
11. All of the company's first convertible preferred stock and
substantially all of the company's debt obligations, with aggregate
claims in excess of $27 million, were converted into common stock;
creditors and preferred shareholders will receive 85 percent of the
common equity; and common shareholders will receive 15 percent of the
common equity, subject to certain plan-authorized adjustments. The plan
received the overwhelming support of creditors and shareholders. The
company's gold mining operations in Zimbabwe are owned by separate
subsidiaries of the company and were not a part of the bankruptcy
proceedings.
Sammy Sosa's Foundation Nearly Bankrupt
Fortune magazine announced that the charitable foundation
established by Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa in the Dominican
Republic, which inoculates children, educates young mothers and provides
dental care, is near bankruptcy, and the baseball player has hardly
given it any cash, according to the Associated Press. Sosa had given the
not-for-profit organization a building, appraised at $2.7 million,
earning a federal tax deduction of at least $1 million, the magazine
said. While the magazine said there is no evidence Sosa has given the
foundation a significant amount of cash, Fortune said Mark
McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals, his home-run rival, contributed
$100,000, and said that many tenants in the building, including Sosa's
sisters, didn't pay rent. Chase Kaufman, a member of the foundation's
board, said he once bought Sosa's brother, Jose, a sports car with money
from the foundation. Adam Katz, one of Sosa's agents, told
Fortune, 'I can virtually assure you that there has been no
impropriety.'
Five Charged in Connection with Multi-million Dollar Investment
Scheme
On Friday, agents from the Securities and Exchange Commission,
Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service arrested
five individuals in San Antonio charged with operating a multi-million
dollar fraudulent investment scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice
reported. Those arrested include Jon Jeffery King of San Antonio; his
wife, Patricia L. King; Patricia's sister Elizabeth Ward Moore of San
Antonio; Roger Patterson Lund of Salt Lake City; and Herbert Dale Carver
of New Orleans. Authorities are still looking for Jon King's son,
Michael J. King of Austin, Texas, who has also been charged with the
scheme.
The indictment alleges that from 1984 to July 1997, the defendants
conspired together in a scheme to defraud investors in eight different
ventures including Cash Can Inc., a business centered around
manufacturing, marketing and selling automated aluminum-for-cash
recycling machines. The defendants intentionally misled individuals into
thinking that the venture they were investing in was vastly more sound
than it actually was, and relatively little of the substantial funds
paid to the defendants by investors ever went to capitalize the venture,
instead keeping the money for personal use. Among the ventures named in
the indictment were the following companies: International Texas
Industries Inc., Control and Signal Technologies Inc., AmeriCorporation,
Teliconics Inc., Eden Research Laboratories Inc. and American Telephone
+ Data Inc. On Wednesday, a federal grand jury returned a three-count
indictment charging conspiracy to commit securities, wire and mail fraud
and conspiracy to commit money laundering. All six are charged in the
money laundering conspiracy, and Michael King is charged with one count
of bankruptcy fraud. If convicted of all charges, Michael King faces up
to 30 years in federal prison, Patricia King faces up to 20 years in
federal prison, and each of the other defendants face up to 25 years in
federal prison.
Philip Services Corp. Record Date to Be Amended
Philip Services Corp., Hamilton, Ont., announced yesterday that the
previously announced record date of March 31, 2000, to determine
shareholders who will receive shares in the restructured company under
the company's reorganization plan will be amended to a later date,
according to a newswire report. Philip Services, an integrated metals
recovery and industrial services company with operations throughout the
United States, Canada and Europe, is in the final stage of completing
its financial reorganization under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy
Code and the Companies Creditors' Arrangement Act (CCAA) in Canada.
Under the company's plan, existing shareholders will receive 2 percent
of the shares of the restructured company, which represents a total of
480,000 common shares, or one share for every 273 shares held as of the
record date. The new shares will be issued after the implementation of
the company's reorganization plan. It is expected that the distribution
of shares of the newly restructured company will occur within one week
of the effective date of the reorganization.
