A fight for control of a Texas oil refinery between Palm Beach billionaire Harry Sargeant III and members of his family has forced their jointly owned company, Trigeant Ltd., into bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported today. On one side of the dispute is Mr. Sargeant III, a former Marine fighter pilot turned shipping magnate and asphalt mogul. On the other are Sargeant's two brothers, Daniel and James, and his father, Harry Sargeant II, who put Trigeant into chapter 11 last week in Florida. Together the Sargeant family owns Trigeant, which provides fuel and asphalt products to the housing and transportation industries. Mr. Sargeant III's father and two brothers, who own 70 percent of the company, removed himfrom his position as manager in February. The family says Sargeant III, who has a $22 million lien against the plant through a company he controls called BTB Refining LLC, is attempting to prevent the refinery from operating in an effort to lower its value and obtain ownership of it.
