On appeal of the bankruptcy judge's order denying BEPCO's motion to dismiss, the District Court reverses and finds that the debtors' bankruptcy filing was not done in good faith. The court notes that Santa Fe Minerals, one of the debtors has no office, officers, or employees, that Memorial is a holding company with no office or employees, and engages in no business other than to act as the sole shareholder of Santa Fe. The court finds that the principal factor in the debtors' filing of their bankruptcy petitions was their concern that the corporate dissolution of Santa Fe was invalid thus subjecting Santa Fe and the other debtor entities to substantial liability arising out of the Louisiana surface pollution litigation. There is no evidence in the record that there will be a capture of the value for the estates that otherwise would have been lost. The few assets of the debtors were not discovered by the debtors until after they had filed their petition in bankruptcy. Bankruptcy may not be used as a tool to gain an advantage over other parties in pending civil litigation. Thus the bankruptcy petitions should have been dismissed, and the bankruptcy court is ordered to dismiss the cases.
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