The U.S. Internal Revenue Service lost its request to delay Solyndra LLC from carrying out its restructuring plan while the agency appeals a bankruptcy judge’s approval of the failed solar-panel maker’s plan to exit court protection, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The IRS was denied its bid for a stay to keep Solyndra, which received a $535 million U.S. Energy Department loan guarantee before going bankrupt, from implementing its plan which the government claims will make its appeal moot because it would be too difficult to undo afterward. "I find that the government has failed to prove a likelihood of success," on its appeal of Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath's plan approval, U.S. District Judge Gregory M. Sleet said at hearing yesterday. "The government claims that the evidence clearly showed the principal purpose was tax avoidance but offers no proof to support its position," Judge Sleet added, saying that the U.S. relies on "circumstantial" evidence rather than fact.
