A U.S. district judge in Camden, N.J., has taken the rare step of assuming control over a series of bankruptcy petitions filed by defendants in a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act suit claiming a New Jersey auto export operation defrauded buyers in the former Soviet Union.
U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman of the District of New Jersey took over the five bankruptcy petitions Jan. 26 after the plaintiffs argued that the bankruptcy court should not be used to provide the RICO defendants shelter from their alleged wrongdoing.
