Latest news with #EduardoAlbor
Mint
5 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Ex-CEO of Ocean Parks Fined $10,000 a Day in Spat With Lenders
(Bloomberg) -- The former chief executive officer of a string of bankrupt, dolphin-themed animal parks is facing a $10,000-a-day fine, after he was accused of using credit-card readers he bought at Costco to divert ticket revenue away from his company's Mexican locations. A federal judge in Delaware imposed the sanctions on Eduardo Albor, who has been fighting US-based lenders for control of The Dolphin Company, which has theme parks in Latin America, the US and Europe. Judge Laurie Silverstein ordered him to stop interfering in the company's operations and give new management access to bank accounts and other financial records. The months-long dispute between Albor and lender-backed new management has disrupted the company's operations and has threatened the welfare of hundreds of dolphins, sea lions and other animals. The newly appointed independent directors have raised concern about animal welfare at the company's theme parks, as a number of dolphins have died in recent months. Regulators have also tightened scrutiny of the company. The animals are both the main attractions at the parks and valuable collateral for more than $100 million in debt. Albor spent decades building the Dolphin Company into a multinational corporation, but lost control of his empire earlier this year after the company defaulted on about $100 million of debt owed to Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company and The Prudential Insurance Company of America, according to a May court filing. The lenders had been trying to remove Albor since the default last year. In April, Albor installed new credit-card terminals at the Mexican parks, after lenders took control of the parent company and stripped him of his corporate authority, lenders alleged in court filings. The terminals allegedly allowed Albor to divert ticket-sale proceeds away from The Dolphin Company's bank accounts, which had been taken over by the new, US-based management team, they said. The cash, collected just as peak tourist season hit, was instead put into new accounts set up by Albor and used, in part, to pay his legal bills in Mexico, according to court filings. The judge's sanctions did not mention the new credit-card terminals, but focused on Albor's efforts to file court challenges in Mexico claiming to still be in charge of The Dolphin Company. Albor has used court cases in Mexico to try to block lenders from taking over the company and to remove their representatives from the headquarters in Cancun. During a court hearing this week, Albor's attorney defended the former executive, arguing that Albor has been cooperating with the new managers. The new payment machines were installed in the parks and new bank accounts opened because The Dolphin Company's main accounts had been frozen, said attorney James C. Moon. The new accounts allowed Albor to pay employees at the parks in Mexico and feed the animals, Moon told the judge. The two sides have been fighting over company records, computer systems and access to employees who are needed to operate the Mexican businesses. In April, Albor, with help from state police officers, took back control of The Dolphin Company's headquarters building, which the executive owns. After putting the corporation into bankruptcy in the US, lenders had temporarily changed the locks on the building, including on Albor's personal office. The case is Leisure Investments Holdings LLC, number 25-10606, in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. More stories like this are available on
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Ex-CEO of Ocean Parks Fined $10,000 a Day in Spat With Lenders
The former chief executive officer of a string of bankrupt, dolphin-themed animal parks is facing a $10,000-a-day fine, after he was accused of using credit-card readers he bought at Costco to divert ticket revenue away from his company's Mexican locations. A federal judge in Delaware imposed the sanctions on Eduardo Albor, who has been fighting US-based lenders for control of The Dolphin Company, which has theme parks in Latin America, the US and Europe. Judge Laurie Silverstein ordered him to stop interfering in the company's operations and give new management access to bank accounts and other financial records.
Bloomberg
22-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Ex-CEO of Ocean Theme Parks Defends Record After Dolphin Deaths
Another dolphin has died in an aquatic park operated by The Dolphin Company, the fifth in the last year as an executive and lenders fight for control of the bankrupt company. Independent managers in the US were unable to get help investigating the cause of the death from company veterinarians in Mexico, where Chief Executive Officer Eduardo Albor maintains control of the headquarters and some of the parks. Operations in Europe, the US and the Caribbean are under the control of lender-appointed managers.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gulf World bankruptcy trial sidetracked by armed stand off in Cancun
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) – The bankruptcy case for the Dolphin Company- the parent corporation for Gulf World – has already been chaotic. Now, court documents filed last week show the case is getting stranger. The Dolphin company's prior management allegedly denied debtors and restructuring officials access to the company's Mexican headquarters in Cancun. Even stranger is the claim that former CEO Eduardo Albor and other personnel seized the headquarters with an armed party. Albor's counsel released preliminary statements earlier today, telling a very different April 21, counsel for the debtors filed a motion for an order pursuant. Chief Restructuring Officer Robert Wagstaff and his team from 'Riveron Management Services' describe a lack of overall cooperation from former Dolphin Company CEO Eduardo Albor. The document then says that after access was briefly gained to control the headquarters, Albor returned with '20 armed individuals purporting to be state police officers,' who forcibly entered and retook possession. Albor's legal counsel fired back with their own preliminary statements Monday, saying the claims are not factual. The documents recount an entirely different story, leaving local bankruptcy lawyers shocked at the latest turn of events. 'They were like, hey, judge, hey everybody. You have your facts wrong. We didn't forcibly retake the building. You guys forcibly took the building. You guys should have never been there. And you used municipal police. We actually had legitimate state police as opposed to what they argued or what the debtors argued in court, which was that the state police were like fake state police. And so they make this big deal that it's actually legitimate state police pursuant to legitimate court orders. And then one of the things that they said that I was last reading was basically, they said, oh, and the reason why the debtor says they can't get back into the facility has nothing to do with us or armed guards. It has everything to do with the fact they were legally trespassing on the building because the Mexican court said they don't have the authority to be there right now,' Bankruptcy Attorney Michael Wynn said. The issue of jurisdiction is the result of precautionary measures for the company's Mexican entities which were put in place by the Concurso Mercantil court on January 28. This pre-dates the Delaware court filing by nearly two months. The documents from Albor's counsel now claim Albor was the only party acting within the constraints of the law on April 11. So what does this mean for Gulf World and the other entities around the world affected by the parent case? And what about the animals who are now caught in an international legal crossfire that could take a lot of time to mitigate? 'What the state agencies need to remember in these cases is that they have the inherent power to go in and enforce what's known as their police power. Right. The state actors who have the authority to regulate and administer regulations over marine animals, such as FWC or the USDA. They have an exception to the automatic stay that stopped everything. So they have the ability, should they choose to, to get in and get active on these cases, to step in on behalf of the animals. And hopefully, you know, we see some action like that happening, or we see it happen at large. With the secured creditors and lenders taking over because those animals don't deserve what's happening to them right now,' added Wynn. There was an emergency hearing scheduled Tuesday morning, prior to the preliminary statements released by Albor's counsel on Monday morning. Wynn says, given the latest jurisdiction battle, that the hearing will likely play out differently than originally intended. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Bloomberg
22-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Ex-Aquatic Park CEO Accused of Seizing HQ in Middle of the Night
The Dolphin Company 's former chief executive officer, aided by armed men, took control of the bankrupt aquatic parks operator's Mexican headquarters in the middle of the night earlier this month, restructuring advisers battling for control of the company alleged in court filings. Former CEO Eduardo Albor and about 20 armed men purporting to be state police officers arrived at Dolphin's Cancun headquarters at approximately 12:45 a.m. on April 12 and 'forcibly entered' the property, Chief Restructuring Officer Robert Wagstaff said in a sworn statement dated Monday.
