Bankruptcy Judge Harlin Hale on Tuesday ordered that 10 units of Mexican glassmaker Vitro SAB de CV be put into U.S. bankruptcy, finding that several of them had taken secret steps to prevent creditors from collecting money owed to them, Reuters reported yesterday. Several U.S. hedge funds led by Aurelius Capital Management and Elliott International hold defaulted notes issued by the subsidiaries and sought to put the units into bankruptcy. After the hedge funds sought involuntary bankruptcy proceedings, five of the subsidiaries secretly reincorporated in the Bahamas and one of the subsidiaries was sold, according to Judge Hale's ruling. "These acts were taken, apparently, to prevent creditors with guarantee claims from taking steps to collect on their judgments," Judge Hale wrote in his opinion. Vitro said in a statement that it is considering an appeal.
