In its petition to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Worcester, Massachusetts, Maiden Mills said the conversion would make the winding process easier for the company. A hearing is set for March 15.

Chapter 11 cases are allowed to convert to Chapter 7 as long as the debtor is still in possession. Debtors who were involuntarily forced to declare bankruptcy are not allowed to convert their bankruptcy cases.

Last month, the textile maker won court approval to sell its assets to Chrysalis Capital Partners, a private equity firm, for $44 million. Chrysalis will run the mill under the name Polartec LLC. Proceeds from the sale will be used to settle remaining costs from the Chapter 11 case and fund the conversion, the Company said.

Maiden Mills had filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on January 10.

Claims by each petitioner:

· American Bank $27.1 million
· Tatonka $6.2 million
· First National Bank $14.2 million
· Integra $895,000

In an unrelated Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition, a number of Pearlman’s downtown properties moved closer toward the auction block.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs rejected the diocese’s “final and best” settlement offer on Tuesday. An attorney for the diocese said the rejection left the diocese “with no choice.” Meanwhile, attorneys for the plaintiffs called the settlement amount insufficient. They are also accusing the diocese of filing for bankruptcy to keep potentially embarrassing details private.

James River had set up Crown as a subsidiary in the transaction, which then left Crown with hundreds of millions of dollars in underperforming assets and debts. James then spun off Crown into a separate company.

According to Crown Paper Liquidating Trust, Crown’s bankruptcy trustee, the accounting firms and investment banks made false representations when they said that Crown “would be solvent and viable” after the transaction. In making these false representations, Crown Paper Liquidating Trust says, the investment banks and accounting firms helped defraud Crown Vantage’s creditors. Crown Vantage filed for bankruptcy protection five years later.

Recent reports indicate that Yandell accrued more debt than the board had been aware of and without its authority or approval. The town's debts include a number of credit purchases, including more than $4,900 in Lowe’s Commercial Services, $95, 208 for two vehicles, and over $3,200 in Dell Computers. Collection agencies are also owed money by Moffett, including $16,183.18 to AWA Collections.

An audit of the Moffett Police Department may have contributed to the town's lack of funds. It was discovered that more than half of the department's operating budget in 2003 and 2004 came from traffic tickets. The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety has indefinitely banned Moffett Police from engaging in any traffic enforcement over a four-mile strip on U.S. Highway 64.

The town filed their bankruptcy petition on December 20, 2006, and creditors are currently prevented from collecting debts owed by the town. According to court filings, Moffett has $199,396.28 in liabilities and $43,033 in assets.

Justice John Paul Stevens, in writing for the majority, stated that while honest debtors were entitled to convert their Chapter 7 cases to Chapter 13, a court is entitled to take away that right because of “fraudulent conduct.” Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. in his dissent, however, said that the U.S. bankruptcy code was unambiguous in its provision and that the debtor possesses a “broad right” to make the conversion to Chapter 13. Previous to the Supreme Court ruling, a bankruptcy judge had denied Marrama's request to convert to Chapter 13, with a bankruptcy appellate court supporting the ruling.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Chapter 7 bankruptcy, also called liquidation bankruptcy, allows a debtor to have his or her debts become liquidated. Essentially, a bankruptcy discharge under Chapter 7 frees the debtor from being personally liable for discharged debts while preventing creditors from collecting payments or taking other action against the debtor, such as eviction, foreclosure, or shutting down utilities. A court-appointed bankruptcy trustee then liquidates certain assets owned by the debtor.

In order to qualify for personal bankruptcy under the Chapter 7 bankruptcy code, a debtor must pass the means test- meaning that their current income must be less than or equal to the median in their state. If a debtor does not pass the means test, he or she may have to file under Chapter 13 bankruptcy instead.

According to a letter by Bishop Robert Brom to parishioners, the bishop said that Chapter 11 could be the only option if the abuse victims could not be fairly compensated without "jeopardizing our overall mission…” he also expressed concern for the “betrayal of trust” experienced by the victims and begged for their forgiveness. He is expected to provide more extensive detail regarding his announcement later this week.

A lawyer for a number of the San Diego plaintiffs, however, says that the diocese has more than enough insurance and assets to settle the claims of clergy abuse. He also claims that the bankruptcy alternative would be one done in bad faith—not because the diocese is insolvent, but because the filing would automatically stay the upcoming trials.

The first case against the San Diego diocese that will go on trial—scheduled for the end of this month—was brought by a Colorado woman who is accusing Reverend Patrick O’Keeffe of persuading her to have sex with him at his parish office when she was just 17 in 1972. Three more trials involving multiple victims who claim that the priests who abused them were moved by diocese officials to different parishes in order to avoid the abuse incidents being exposed to the public are pending.

Northwest is the 5th largest carrier company in the U.S. It filed for bankruptcy protection last September. A court hearing regarding its disclosure statement is scheduled for March 26.

According to Northwest’s proposed plan, holders of general unsecured claims would receive stock valued at 66% to 83% of the claims, which are estimated at anywhere from $8.75 billion to $9.5 billion. Northwest would sell new common stock worth $750 million and let unsecured creditors decide first whether they wish to buy new stock. $1.5 billion/distributions would be given to employees. Current shareholders would not receive any distribution, and current shares would be cancelled.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Even when a company manages to successfully exit bankruptcy, the bondholders and creditors usually become the new owners and existing equity shares are usually cancelled.

Bartels has now admitted to withholding the information from the trustee on purpose. She says that she knew that she needed to disclose information about any inheritances she had received within the six months of filing for bankruptcy. She is being ordered to pay $40,497 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release after she serves her prison term.

The United States Department of Justice says that 10% of all bankruptcy petitions have some element of fraud. When filing for bankruptcy, all debtors are supposed to fully disclose all assets and liabilities. Unfortunately, however, not everyone does this, and the concealment of assets or lying during a bankruptcy proceeding is a cause of most bankruptcy fraud cases. When a debtor does not list all of his or her assets on a bankruptcy schedule, the crimes of false statement and concealment are committed.

According to attorneys for the Atlanta-based company, all formal, informal, unfiled, and filed objections had been resolved. Among the objections, were filings from Travelocity, several banks, the city of Los Angeles, and the county and city of Denver.

Delta first filed its disclosure statement and reorganization plan last December. Since then it has made two amendments. It has also managed a takeover bid by US Airways Group, which withdrew its bid for Delta last month after Delta’s creditors announced that it would support Delta’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy as a solo company.

Creditors can vote on the reorganization plan until April 9. The plan also includes Delta’s plans to give creditors new stock upon its exit from Chapter 11.

Milwitt published a deceptive ad in a phone book, saying that he was with a company named “AP Assistance.” The advertisement attracted the attention of a number of tenants who needed help to defend themselves from unlawful detainer actions. According to witnesses, Milwitt convinced the tenants that he was a lawyer—even though he had never gone to law school—and he told the renters that they were legally allowed to withhold their rent from the landlords. The tenants paid him fees, in exchange for him appearing in court on their behalf. Milwitt would then list them in court documents has having appeared in pro per. He did not represent any of them in court, which led to default judgments in favor of the landlords. Milwhitt had given a mailbox at a public mail service as an address, and this made it impossible for the tenants to immediately find out that he had not appeared in court for them. He filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection for six of the renters—all of them claim that they did not know or even authorize the petitions, which named the six tenants’ landlords as creditors. Because of the petitions, automatic stays were immediately enacted. This prevented the landlords from collecting the rent owed to them.

Milwhitt, Under 18 U.S.C. Sec 157, was indicted on six counts of bankruptcy fraud. According to the indictment, "he fraudulently obstructed the creditors’ legal right to collect back rents, and repossess the properties” by filing the fake petitions. He was found guilty of five of those counts by a jury.

The Ninth Circuit overturned the conviction, saying that the specific intent to defraud the victim or victims—in this case, the landlords—was not identifiable.

The announcement comes as the country’s third-largest carrier company amended and made technical changes to its bankruptcy reorganization plan and follows the withdrawal of its hostile takeover bid (at least $9.8 billion) by US Airways.

Delta’s board had considered US Airways’s proposal several times but did not take any action beyond that. US Airways withdrew its bid after the unsecured creditors rejected the merger offer in favor of supporting Delta’s reorganization plan. The Arizona-based U.S. Airways Group had given the committee until February 1 to meet certain demands, including postponing Delta’s disclosure statement hearing that was scheduled on February 7, or it would pull its offer.

Also, because several creditors had objections with its disclosure statement, Delta is working with them to resolve those differences. The airline carrier wants its reorganization plan confirmed in April.

A hearing is scheduled today for a federal bankruptcy judge to hear AMS’s proposal for how it will develop a plan to sell, partially sell, or refinance the business. The California-based company says it has formed confidentiality agreements with potential buyers and investors. It wants a bankruptcy judge to grant it permission to sell Publishers Group West, one of its subsidiaries, to publishing and distribution company Perseus Books.

While AMS’s creditors support the sale of Publishers Group West, they believe that the debtor is insolvent and should stop spending money by shutting down its operations. Last week, a committee of AMS’s unsecured creditors filed objections to the company’s proposal, which they are convinced will fail. Penguin Books and Random House are members of the committee.

“Because AMS's business has crumbled, AMS is no longer a viable business entity, and it should quickly ratchet back the scope of the operations and expenses and transition into a liquidation mode,” said a committee member.

In a written statement submitted yesterday, the creditors said that the US Airways offer of cash and stock offers a "superior recovery for creditors compared to what they would receive under Delta's standalone Chapter 11 plan." The creditors group is made up of creditors holding approximately $2.4 billion in claims. Previously, the creditors had asked Delta to consider the U.S. Airways offer. Now, they want the official creditors committee to ask Delta to look at the offer.

According to Anne Granfield, a spokeswoman for the ad hoc committee, "As it stands, unless the official committee comes out and says something, creditors won't have a choice."

According to Granfield, US Airways says it will increase its bid amount for Delta as long as the creditors are able to postpone the hearing. US Airways, however, says it has not offered to increase its offer, which will expire on February 1. But the carrier does say that it will withdraw its bid if Delta’s reorganization hearing isn’t postponed by Thursday. US Airways had attempted a hostile takeover to purchase Delta last November.

Delta estimates that its value will be somewhere between $9.4 billion and $12 billion if it exits from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the middle of the year as a standalone company. Once its disclosure statement, which it submitted in December, is approved, the carrier company can begin soliciting votes to get its reorganization plan approved.

LA also says that Delta’s reorganization plan improperly gives the airline company broad discretion to defer its decisions when it comes to rejecting or assuming certain unexpired leases beyond the effective plan date.

The airline company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005, estimates that it will be worth $9.4 billion to $12 billion if it emerges from bankruptcy protection as planned and as a standalone company by mid-2007.