Police officers seized seafood and other assets from Medley, Florida, U.S.A.-based Bonamar Corp. late last week after a judge sided with the company’s creditors in a lawsuit over millions of dollars the company has in debt.
Police were allowed to seize all fresh, frozen, and canned seafood products, along with books, records and other assets after a Miami-Dade County Circuit Court judge granted a replevin request by Santander Bank, which allowed Miami Date County Police to gain entry to Bonamar’s offices and seize “collateral.”
The seizures stem from a lawsuit filed by Bonamar’s creditor, Santander Bank, which said that the crab and seafood value-added processor owes more than USD 22 million (EUR 19 million) on a USD 25 million (EUR 22 million) loan.
However, an emergency order on 25 February put an end to the seizures. Circuit Court Judge Mavel Ruiz on Monday brokered an agreement between Santander and Bonamar appointing Jim Howard of GlassRatner to be the assignee in charge of liquidating Bonamar’s assets to pay claims and expenses related to the lawsuit.
SeafoodSource’s reached out to Bonamar on Friday and Monday, but calls to the company’s headquarters went unanswered.
In addition to trouble with Santander Bank, WCPM Logistics, formerly known as International Pacific Seafoods, said it still has not been paid more than USD 2.6 million (EUR 2.3 million) from Bonamar, according to a separate lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court in mid-February.
Bonamar agreed to buy IPS last March, to add to its product line and expand to the U.S. West Coast. While it made some payments towards the acquisition, it remains millions of dollars short in completing the deal, according to the complaint.
