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A Florida telemarketing firm that the state’s consumer watchdog has called a scam filed for bankruptcy protection, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Facing a lawsuit over allegedly deceptive practices, Federal Verification Co., which promised to help small businesses win lucrative U.S. government contracts, filed for bankruptcy on Monday to try to stop an upcoming trial. In November, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi sued Federal Verification for allegedly charging high upfront fees to customers who were “given false hope of a [General Services Administration] contract,” according to the 19-page lawsuit. Her office has received more than 200 complaints about Federal Verification and dozens of related businesses since 2012, the lawsuit said.

Frederick’s of Hollywood filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday with a $22.5 million offer in hand from Authentic Brands Group, LLC, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The agreement with Authentic Brands means the lingerie chain will continue only as an online business, unless a rival steps forward that agrees to reopen the stores. None appeared in the efforts to find a buyer that preceded the bankruptcy, court papers say. If any competing bids are received, Frederick’s is planning a May 28 auction, with Authentic Brands as lead bidder.

The companies that own Hollywood Pavilion hospital, whose former CEO is currently in prison for Medicare fraud, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization to stay a foreclosure lawsuit, the South Florida Business Journal reported yesterday. Former Hollywood Pavilion CEO Karen Kallen-Zury was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2013 after being convicted of more than $39 million in fraudulent billing by bribing patients to receive phony care at its facility. She has appealed her conviction. Later that year, the 58,189-square-foot hospital and rehab facility was hit with a foreclosure lawsuit. Subsequent to the lawsuit being filed, an entity related to South Miami, Fla.-based Larkin Community Hospital bought the distressed mortgage and took over management of both the 50-bed hospital and the 152-bed rehabilitation facility under a receivership court order. The foreclosure lawsuit is pending. http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2015/04/09/hollywood-hospital-files-chapter-11-as-former-ceo.html?ana=twt

For more on hospital and medical bankruptcies, be sure to pick up a copy of the ABI Health Care Insolvency Manual, Third Edition from the ABI Bookstore. 

EveryWare Global Inc, a marketer of cookware and tabletop products, filed for chapter 11 protection, Reuters reported yesterday. The company listed assets of $100 million to $500 million and liabilities of $500 million to $1 billion in its petition in bankruptcy court. Earlier this month, EveryWare said it expected to file for a pre-packaged bankruptcy that would give its lenders control of the company after it emerges from bankruptcy within 60-75 days. The company said its secured lenders would own 96 percent of common stock and it would no longer trade publicly after emerging from bankruptcy. EveryWare which was formed through the merger of Anchor Hocking LLC and Oneida Ltd. in March 2012, markets and distributes products such as bakeware, storageware and cookware in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Asia.

A bankruptcy court issued an order denying the ad hoc group of NII Capital 2021’s noteholders' motion for an order directing NII Holdings to participate in mediation, BankruptcyData.com reported today. The noteholders had argued in their mediation motion that the debtors were holding companies, “and as such, a hypothetical chapter 7 liquidation of the debtors would permit going-concern sales of the debtors' equity in their nondebtor subsidiaries that hold valuable businesses.” 

Fresh Produce Sportswear LLC, a women's clothing retailer based in Boulder, Colo., has filed for chapter 11 protection in the face of what its founder called "significant and material financial challenges,” the Denver Business Journal reported today. Fresh Produce has 27 company stores across the country, but the majority of its locations are in Florida. According to the bankruptcy filing, the company's creditors are Wells Fargo Bank and Irvine, California-based Realty Associates Fund V LLC. These two creditors hold $3.98 million in Fresh Produce's debt, stemming from a bank loan and commercial rent.

Xinergy Ltd., a U.S. producer of metallurgical and thermal coal, announced that the company and 25 of its subsidiaries filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday, Nasdaq.com reported. The company stated that it will operate its businesses and continue customer shipments without interruption during the reorganization. Xinergy will continue to pay its employees in the normal course and also filed a motion with the court seeking to honor its pre-petition employee obligations.

Plastic-surgery chain Lifestyle Lift filed for Chapter 11 protection Friday, three-and-a-half weeks after abruptly shutting down its business and laying off its staff of nearly 400, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The bankruptcy court filing lists assets of less than $50,000 and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million. Lifestyle Lift said that it is negotiating with a new management company to reopen most, if not all, of its roughly 50 surgery centers. The new company “is hoping to rehire the former employees at those centers, including doctors and medical staff.” The company, which filed for bankruptcy along with several related entities, owes money to vendors including Botox maker Allergan Inc.

A California raisin-packing business is seeking bankruptcy protection in the face of $39 million in bank debt and another $16 million owed to raisin growers, who are first in line for repayment under state laws protecting farmers, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. West Coast Growers Inc., based in the Central Valley city of Kerman, filed for chapter 11 on March 20 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fresno. The company, which said that it plans to sell itself, has an estimated $10.1 million in assets and $59.6 million in liabilities.

Karmaloop Inc., an online apparel company, filed for bankruptcy protection, becoming the latest clothing retailer to fall victim to changes in consumer trends, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The Boston-based company listed assets of more than $10 million and debt of more than $100 million in chapter 11 documents filed yesterday. “The debtors’ businesses have fallen victim to the shift in retail purchasing that is occurring, especially among retailers in the young adult age bracket, as such consumers have moved away from purchasing traditional brands,” Brian L. Davies Jr., the interim chief financial officer, said in court papers. The company will seek court permission to sell assets and named ComCap Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of one or more pre-bankruptcy lenders, as lead bidder at a court supervised auction.