HERNDON, Va.- LAWFUEL – Law News, Law Jobs Network -Rural Telephone Finance Cooperative (RTFC) today asked a bankruptcy court to allow enforcement of more than $520 million of judgments against subsidiaries of Emerging Communications, Inc. (Emerging). Emerging is the subject of bankruptcy proceedings in Delaware and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
RTFC was granted the judgments after loan defaults by Emerging’s subsidiary Innovative Communication Corporation (ICC). The loans from RTFC were guaranteed by ICC’s parent company, Emerging, and secured by ICC’s stock, which RTFC holds as collateral.
Emerging and ICC are parent companies of the Virgin Islands Telephone Corporation (Vitelco), whose stock RTFC also holds as collateral.
RTFC filed its Motion for Relief from Stay and for Adequate Protection under Section 362 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Division of the United States District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands.
“RTFC is sensitive to the significant role that telecommunications plays in the U.S. Virgin Islands economy and the lives of its residents,” said Steven L. Lilly, RTFC Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “One goal of RTFC is to assist and strengthen Vitelco and its telecommunications affiliates.”
RTFC has pledged to the U.S. Virgin Island’s Public Services Commission and other government officials that it will abide by all federal and territorial statutory, regulatory, and other legal obligations pertaining to telecommunications and cable television businesses in the USVI as it pursues its legal rights.
About RTFC
RTFC is a member-owned, not-for-profit lending cooperative created in 1987 to serve the financial needs of the rural telecommunications industry. With a membership of more than 500 rural cooperatives and companies across the United States and its territories, RTFC is committed to supporting the rural telecommunications industry. RTFC is a managed affiliate of the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation.
