Schahin Bankruptcy Suit Seeks $465 Million From Banks’ Rig Deal

摘要

A bankruptcy administrator of Brazilian oil and gas conglomerate Schahin Group sued more than a dozen banks, including Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered, claiming theyunlawfully recovered more than $465 million as loan repayments leaving other creditors in the lurch.AJ Ruiz Consultoria Empresarial SA alleges that the banks, which also include Mizuho Bank and Mitsubishi Corp., illegally enriched themselves by selling two rigs critical to Schahin’sfinancial health in 2014 when the company was struggling to stay afloat.“If not for the payments to defendants, the Schahin Group may have been able to avoid bankruptcy and pay its creditors,” AJ Ruiz said in its complaint in Manhattan federal court. Thebanks facilitated a complex sale-leaseback transaction that involved Schahin selling the two rigs, Amazonia and Pantanal, to a Chinese bank that immediately leased them back to thecompany, according the complaint.