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A distressed energy-trading company overstated its assets by more than $3 billion using “routine and pervasive” forgery, while its founder oversaw years of disastrous bets on oil derivatives, a report filed with a Singapore court said, the Wall Street Journal reported. The study by interim judicial managers, or court-appointed independent administrators, offers the first detailed account of the implosion of Hin Leong Trading Pte. Ltd., a closely held Singapore company that owes $3.5 billion — mostly to banks, including HSBC Holdings PLC. The administrators, from PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services Pte. Ltd., estimated Hin Leong’s true assets at just $257 million, or about 7 percent of liabilities, raising the prospect of steep losses for creditors. They recommended a merger with other companies owned by the controlling Lim family. The two-month investigation found serious irregularities and convoluted accounting. It found the group overstated assets by an “astonishing amount,” pointing to a $2.23 billion shortfall in accounts receivables — payments due from customers — and inventory stockpiles apparently inflated by $812 million. The higher asset values helped paper over years of losses, the report said: The $1.35 billion in profits Hin Leong reported since 2010 from trading energy futures and swaps was in reality a loss of about $808 million. Founder Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, had said in an earlier court filing that the company had hid about $800 million in futures losses.

Grupo Aeromexico SAB is considering a chapter 11 filing in the U.S. as the coronavirus pandemic ravages the airline industry, Bloomberg News reported. The Mexican carrier is weighing its options and no final decision has been made. The company is working to coordinate with creditors on a restructuring, and is considering all the alternatives. An Aeromexico bankruptcy would be the third in six weeks by a major Latin American airline, after Latam Airlines Group SA and Avianca Holdings SA sought court protection. Passenger traffic in the region fell by 96 percent in April amid the pandemic, according to the International Air Transport Association. But Latin American governments, unlike their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe, have been reluctant to offer support for airlines. Aeromexico said it hasn’t initiated or made a decision to initiate restructuring under chapter 11. “At this moment, we’re identifying additional sources of financing to strengthen our operative flows,” the company said in a securities filing Friday. “We’re also analyzing different alternatives to successfully reach, in the medium and long term, an orderly restructure of our financial commitments without disrupting operations.” Aeromexico is coordinating with unions, creditors and lessors, it said.

Creditors of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group led by private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group Inc. made an offer yesterday to take control of the circus company through a debt restructuring in Canada, Reuters reported. The group of creditors is proposing to invest $300 million in Montreal-based Cirque and reduce its $1.2 billion debt pile by $900 million, the person said. The creditor group, which also includes asset managers BlueMountain Capital and Sound Point Capital Management LP and others, holds nearly three-quarters of Cirque du Soleil’s debt. Cirque started exploring debt restructuring options, including a possible bankruptcy in March, after it was forced to cancel shows because of the coronavirus outbreak. The company, famous for its shows in Las Vegas, had to temporarily lay off most of its staff after nationwide coronavirus shutdowns nixed its performances.

The British unit of Victoria’s Secret owner L Brands Inc. filed for protection from creditors Friday as it grapples with disruption wreaked by the coronavirus pandemic, in a move that could result in the sale of the business, the Wall Street Journal reported. L Brands is invoking a tool in the U.K. called a “light-touch administration” that, like filing for bankruptcy, creates a moratorium on claims for unpaid debts. But unlike in a bankruptcy filing, it allows management to keep running the business with the consent of administrators. The company’s U.K. arm employs over 800 people and operates 25 stores under the Victoria’s Secret and Pink brands, which have been shut for weeks because of the pandemic. The administration process excludes its online business, which will continue to trade.

NMC Health PLC, a hospital operator based in the United Arab Emirates that collapsed amid allegations of a multibillion-dollar fraud, filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and could liquidate as it faces shareholder lawsuits over its financial irregularities, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company, which does business mainly in the Middle East but also in other regions, including the U.S., was placed into administration by a U.K. court last month following the discovery of a hole in its books of more than $3 billion. NMC Health yesterday filed for chapter 15 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Founded by Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, NMC Health operates a network that includes 38 hospitals and 146 medical centers in 19 countries. The Indian-born Shetty and Emirati billionaire Khaleefa Butti Omair Yousif Ahmed al-Muhairi, formerly NMC’s executive vice chairman, resigned from the company’s board in February. The company, now overseen by three Alvarez & Marsal Europe LLP administrators, said the U.S. bankruptcy filing is intended to put a stop to collection and enforcement actions, giving it time to evaluate how to best manage its U.S. medical practices and other assets. World-wide, it has about 20,000 employees, including about 2,000 doctors.

Hytera America and Hytera Communications America (West) filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy this afternoon in a move the company described as a “routine financial restructuring” to address financial issues associated with ongoing litigation and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its U.S. business, UrgentComm.com reported. Hytera filed voluntary petitions for chapter 11 bankruptcy relief in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California “for the purpose of preserving its U.S. business operations,” according to an announcement posted today on the Hytera America web site. Hytera America’s bankruptcy filing was executed less than three months after U.S. District Court Judge Charles Norgle of the Northern District of Illinois entered a judgment in March requiring Hytera Communications to pay Motorola Solutions $345.8 million in compensatory damages and $418.8 million in punitive damages. During the trial, a Hytera attorney reportedly described the financial compensation sought by Motorola Solutions as a “bankrupting amount.” In February, the jury unanimously awarded Motorola Solution the full damages the company sought, and Judge Norgle affirmed the verdict. Motorola Solution also is seeking a post-trial ruling for a permanent injunction that would prohibit Hytera from selling a substantial amount of its DMR product portfolio anywhere in the world. Attorneys for Hytera — representing China-based Hytera Communications and subsidiaries such as Hytera America and Hytera Communications (West) — are seeking a new trial. In addition, Hytera has argued that any U.S. ruling should apply only to Hytera’s U.S. business, not the company’s activities in other countries throughout the world.

LATAM Airlines Group SA said today that the company and its affiliates in Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and the United States have filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S., Reuters reported. Latin America’s largest airline said that it secured funding from shareholders, including the Cueto and Amaro families, and Qatar Airways, to provide up to $900 million in debtor-in-possession financing. LATAM Airlines said that its affiliates in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay were not included in the filing.

Satellite operator Intelsat SA said yesterday that it filed for chapter 11 protection, Reuters reported. The company listed assets and liabilities in the range of $10 billion to $50 billion, according to a filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Intelsat also said that it had received $1 billion in debtor-in-possession financing. The company’s chapter 11 filing comes more than a month after it suspended its 2020 outlook and said it would delay filing its first-quarter results. Intelsat is among a number of companies that will participate in the accelerated clearing of C-band spectrum under the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order to support a build-out of 5G wireless infrastructure in the U.S. “To meet the FCC’s accelerated clearing deadlines and ultimately be eligible to receive $4.87 billion of accelerated relocation payments, Intelsat needs to spend more than $1 billion on clearing activities,” the Luxembourg-based company said in a statement. Intelsat General, which serves the company’s U.S. commercial, government and allied military customers, is not part of the chapter 11 proceedings, the company said.