Skip to main content

%1

Sears Boss Eddie Lampert Accused of Possibly Profiting from Retailer's Decline

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

A group of creditors alleged that Sears Holdings chairman and investor Eddie Lampert may have profited from the company's plunge into bankruptcy, USA Today reported. A committee organized to represent the retailer's unsecured creditors in court accused Lampert and his hedge fund ESL Investments of potentially structuring deals to gain an unfair edge as the company declined. They "may have exercised undue influence to siphon value away from the Company on favorable terms," the creditors group said in a court filing. The group also said that Lampert may have leveraged his "insider status to obtain an ever-increasing percentage" of Sears debt, allowing him to "obtain beneficial positions" in the retailer's chapter 11 bankruptcy.