%1

The U.S. trustee for Minnesota is seeking court approval to launch an independent investigation of commodities trader Tim Krieger and his businesses, according to a recent filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported today. The investigation could be good news for Krieger’s investors, who stand to lose about $30 million unless the trustee is able to find other assets that rightfully belong to Aspirity Energy, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. Krieger, who owns about 70 percent of Aspirity, transferred most of the company’s assets to another business he controls before the energy company collapsed, corporate records show. Since 2011, Krieger paid himself more than $18 million, mostly in the form of distributions from the company’s dwindling cash reserves, records show. Aspirity now has less than $50,000 in the bank, according to its most recent financial statement.