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Troubled retailer USA Discounters, which has been accused of scamming its military customers, will keep its chapter 11 case in one of the nation's busiest bankruptcy courts, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi recently ordered USA Discounters to defend its choice of the Delaware court over "some other appropriate venue," such as a Virginia court closer to its corporate headquarters. After hearing from the company and its creditors that the case should remain in Delaware, Judge Sontchi found that the company's choice of venue was legal and that other concerns — such as the convenience of creditors and the interest of justice — either support keeping the case in Delaware or were "neutral."

USA Discounters Ltd., a retailer that has been accused of scamming U.S. service members, is defending its decision to file for chapter 11 in Delaware despite having roots elsewhere, the Wall Street Journal Bankruptcy Beat blog reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi ordered the retailer to appear at a hearing on Friday to defend its filing in the Wilmington, Del., court over “some other appropriate venue.” USA Discounters has its headquarters in Norfolk, Va., and faces litigation related to its business practices in Colorado, two possible venues that Judge Sontchi’s order cited. But the company says that there is no dispute that its chapter 11 filing, made last month, complies with bankruptcy laws, as two of the three entities that filed were incorporated in Delaware.

Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey yesterday largely dismissed the chapter 11 case of Baha Mar Ltd., saying that he “perceived no greater good” would come from allowing the case to continue in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported today. Judge Carey said in his opinion that the bankruptcy filing of Baha Mar, which is the owner and developer of a stalled $3.5 billion resort in the Bahamas, “is truly an international case” and acknowledged the deep economic interest of the Bahamian government in the resort. At the crux of his decision, Judge Carey said, was a finding earlier this summer by Justice Ian Winder of the Supreme Court of the Bahamas that the project’s stakeholders expected that insolvency proceedings would take place in the Bahamas. Judge Carey said that he agreed and was dismissing the U.S. case for this reason. That reasoning didn’t, however, extend to one entity that Baha Mar had placed in bankruptcy, called Northshore Mainland Services Inc. This company is incorporated in Florida and manages U.S. operations. Creditors of that entity couldn’t have expected that it file for bankruptcy outside of the U.S., Judge Carey said, and permitted only that case to continue.