How Instant Brands Went From Victim to Accused, According to Bankruptcy Trustee

A New York firm apparently victimized by questionable bookkeeping in an M&A deal was accused by a bankruptcy trustee last week of using that same questionable bookkeeping to pay $345 million in dividends to itself and its investors from a fraudulently obtained loan.

In an unusual request for a bankruptcy-based jury trial, litigation trustee Alan Halperin is seeking $400 million in a lawsuit against Cornell Capital LLC, its owner Henry Cornell, and 19 other defendants involved in the June 2023 bankruptcy of a kitchen products distributor in the Southern District of Texas.