A man in bankruptcy can run from his creditors, but he can’t hide from obligations to his ex-wife, as former billionaire Samuel Wyly learned last week, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Wyly, who helped build companies including arts-and-crafts retailer Michaels Stores Inc., filed for chapter 11 protection in October to fend off an impending judgment in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A Manhattan jury found that Wyly and his deceased brother, Charles, used offshore trust accounts to trade secretly in the stock of four companies on whose boards they sat. Samuel Wyly’s former wife, Torrie Steele, sued in bankruptcy court in Dallas, claiming that his responsibility to pay her $500,000 a year is a support obligation that’s not wiped out by chapter 11.
