Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath on Friday gave final approval for Buffets Inc. to tap $285 million in bankruptcy financing after the company reduced the size of the loan package to resolve objections from creditors, the Associated Press reported on Friday. Buffets, which filed for bankruptcy protection last month, is the U.S. retail sector’s biggest casualty so far of the economic slowdown that prompted consumers to cut spending. The company, which operates casual dining restaurants, had been losing customers to cheaper fast-food restaurants, according to analysts. The company, based in Eagan, Minn., owed banks $634 million when it filed for chapter 11 protection. Under the deal Judge Walrath approved Friday, $200 million of the existing bank loans will be rolled up into the bankruptcy financing.

Federal regulators have accused a Chicago-based hedge fund of misappropriating more than $11 million from hundreds of people who invested at least $300 million with it to trade commodity futures contracts, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission brought the charges Tuesday, broadening its existing lawsuit against Lake Shore Asset Management Ltd. The original suit was filed last June. The charges in U.S. District Court in Chicago target Philip Baker and the companies he controlled, which also include the Lake Shore Group of Companies Inc. The CFTC, which regulates commodities trading, said in amending its complaint that the Lake Shore companies fraudulently solicited pool participants and distributed false account statements showing they were earning substantial profits when in fact they lost $37.5 million from February 2002 through June 2007.
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy