Unsecured creditors are alleging that Sears (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) should be liquidated, protesting the winning bid from the company’s Chair Eddie Lampert that would keep some of the company’s stores in operation.
The creditors allege that in the years since Lampert took over the helm at the company in 2005, he has stripped the company of its assets and capitalized on its decline, according to USA Today. The creditors, which include major mall owner Simon Property Group (Indianapolis), also assert that Lampert’s latest winning bid at bankruptcy auction practically amounts to stealing the company’s remaining assets.
Lampert’s hedge fund ESL Investments (Greenwich, Conn.) asserts that all of his moves and decisions were ethical, made in good faith and approved by the board as fair.