BALTIMORE-A judge handling the Pocket Communications Inc. bankruptcy case ruled Feb. 11 that a $1-billion lawsuit against Pocket principles Dan and Janis Riker filed by National Telecom PCS Inc. can move forward, and that the Rikers cannot seek either protection or damages through the bankruptcy court.
The lawsuit in question, filed in New York a week before Pocket declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, named the Rikers as co-conspirators in antitrust violations, collusion and fraud in the C-block personal communications services auction.
Prior to Judge Steven Derby’s decision, the Rikers had asked the court for damages relating to the New York court action filed by NatTel, saying it added the Rikers’ name in violation of an automatic stay against any further lawsuits that began when Pocket declared bankruptcy last March.
“As alleged co-conspirators, the Rikers are potentially liable for their alleged acts and the alleged acts of other New York action defendants,” the judge wrote. “The question of whether indemnity provisions of debtors’ bylaws would operate in the New York action to protect the Rikers is not properly before the court. It is sufficient for this inquiry that under antitrust law, it is possible to hold officers and directors of a corporation, like the Rikers, personally liable for participating in a conspiracy to violate the antitrust laws.”
Kenneth Oestreicher of Baltimore-based Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, an attorney for the Rikers, told RCR he was unfamiliar with Judge Derby’s ruling and was unable to comment at this time.
Jack Robinson, president of NatTel, told RCR the judge’s decision “means we’re finally turning the tide on the stranglehold the Rikers have had on this. They looked to the bankruptcy court for protection, but the court said we could go ahead.”
Describing the decision as “stunning,” Robinson said he realized the Rikers do not have $1 billion to give. However, “at the end of the day, all we want are their licenses or the monetary equivalent,” Robinson said. In a written statement following the decision, he added, “We will just place liens and attachments on the reauction proceeds derived from all of Pocket’s returned licenses to make sure that we are paid what is owed us.”
Robinson also will wait for the results of another bankruptcy hearing last Thursday that will determine if Pocket’s proposed restructuring plan or one forwarded by its major lenders, which include L.M. Ericsson and Siemens Stromberg-Carlson, will be accepted by the court.
