Longtime customers of Maritime Fuels are concerned they might be out hundreds or thousands of dollars each, after the company declared bankruptcy last week.
Dawn Richards of Bridge Street After School Academy says her business is owed at least $2000 by the defunct company that convinced her to sign a contract requiring pre-authorized bank withdrawals.
And Richards is not alone. According to documents from appointed insolvency trustees PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), former customers on pre-authorized payment plans are owed $2.5 million by the bankrupt company. The round number is likely an estimate, as PwC says it has yet to do a full reconciliation of Maritime Fuels records. It’s also just a fraction of the total debts of the company, which total nearly $44 million dollars.
Once customers like Richards file the paperwork, they will be considered unsecured creditors. The odds of getting repaid do not look good, says Richards. “I’m not holding my breath,” says the daycare operator. “I’m sure that there are people who are probably owed a lot more than $2,000. And where’s that money going to come from?”
The largest creditor listed in the insolvency documents is Western Petroleum, a Newfoundland company owned by Ivan Cassell, the co-owner of Maritime Fuels. According to PwC’s summary, Cassell’s Maritime Fuels owes his other company, Western Petroleum, a round figure of $20 million. Western Petroleum is listed as an unsecured creditor. The Bank of Nova Scotia is owed over $17.8 million, but that debt is secured, and appears to be related to a long list of vehicle loans and mortgages.
