The National Rifle Association’s bankruptcy file was part of a clever attempt to escape a legal oversight of the NRA’s native New York state and should be canceled, a state attorney said at the end of an argument in a trial on Monday.
What was presented in the NRA’s Chapter 11 in January is “a child of bankruptcy filed in bad faith,” and the court should rule out “failure to prevent it from becoming a refuge for criminals,” Gerrit Pronske, New York Attorney General Letitia James. , he argued.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harlin Hale is conducting a trial in Dallas to suspend NRA filing, appoint a board of trustees to lead the group while in bankruptcy, or appoint an examiner to investigate James’ allegations of corruption and mismanagement at its highest level.
New York says filing for bankruptcy is illegal for a number of reasons.
These included filing in a separate fraud case against the NRA in New York, the lack of financial justification to justify the Chapter 11 case, the offer to seek a sympathetic residence, and the internal process that violated its own governance by NRA management. conditions, while deliberately “deceiving” him by keeping his committee in the dark of its intentions to fail.
‘DUMPING’ New York
The NRA never hid its 150-year-old New York home and desire to get out of bankruptcy with the new Texas treaty, Pronske told the court.
On the day he requested the reorganization, he posted the letter on his website, announcing that the statue was “DUMPING”. As further evidence, Pronske noted that the NRA created a partnership called Sea Girt LLC as part of its efforts to re-enter Texas, such as “Decoy Duck LLC”.
Wayne LaPierre, who addressed some of his harshest remarks to a longtime NRA chief, told them that he had accepted the prosperous travels of an NRA salesman without properly disclosing them and opposed anyone.
According to Pronske, Craig Spray, then chief financial officer, overcame efforts to establish financial controls by a “Wayne says” rule.
Brian Mason, a lawyer for Ackerman McQueen Inc., a former NRA advertising agency, also argued that the case should be dropped.
Mason argued that the NRA is financially healthy with a “tremendous amount of evidence,” including $ 72 million in cash.
“There is no doubt that the NRA’s financial situation had nothing to do with the filing of that bankruptcy,” Mason said.
Mason told the court that the bankruptcy was filed fraudulently without the approval of the plenary session required by NRA statutes. He said the commission had changed LaPierre’s labor agreement in early January, claiming he had the power to deceive him artificially and to initiate proceedings, in an ambiguous manner.
According to him, LaPier stated that the management had to invent the meaning of his employment agreement, which gave him that authority.
The case is the American Rifle Association of America, 21-bk-30085, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern Texas District (Dallas).