A U.S. judge yesterday opened the door to dismissing the $18 billion Caesars bankruptcy case unless parties find a way to make public results of a probe into whether the casino operator transferred its most profitable properties to new owners before filing to reorganize under chapter 11, Reuters reported yesterday. If Caesars insists that the report remain sealed, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar said that he might dismiss the bankruptcy case, or convert it from chapter 11 reorganization to a chapter 7 liquidation "which would be a hoot." In March, Judge Goldgar ordered an independent investigation into creditor accusations that Caesars Entertainment Corp. had stripped its casino operating unit of its best assets. As the investigation nears its close, a lawyer for examiner Richard Davis said in court yesterday that Caesars and its unit had asked for the report, which contains some 7 million pages, to be filed under seal. "You can't have a bankruptcy process dependent on an examiner's report (...) on the theory that the report will then allow everyone to walk away smiling and holding hands and then object to it ever being released," Judge Goldgar said. He agreed to allow a redacted version of the report, which could be ready by the end of February, to be filed temporarily alongside a public summary, but told the examiner to go back to the drawing board for a procedure to release the full report.
