A US judge has shot down attempts by shipowner Richard Neu to dismiss legal claims brought against him by his estranged daughter in a bitter court battle.
District Judge John Michael Vazquez, sitting in the federal court for New Jersey, declined to dismiss Amy Neu’s complaint against her father on jurisdictional grounds “with prejudice”, which means he will not alter the ruling based on any further proceedings.
Amy Neu has claimed her father crippled the operations of shipowner General Ore International Corp by allegedly draining millions of dollars to make reckless bets in the stock market.
She has demanded that he be removed as head of the family trusts behind General Ore, and has asked to be installed in his place.
Richard Neu has denied the allegations through Peter Evensen. The former Teekay Corp chief executive took a key leadership role last year in General Ore, a German owner of 15 vessels in the iron ore and gas sectors.
The litigation, which includes cross-claims by Richard Neu against his daughter, has been pending since 2017. It was first reported by TradeWinds in January this year.
Vazquez also declined to dismiss Amy Neu’s complaint on grounds not related to jurisdiction, but without prejudice. This means Richard Neu’s lawyers can still argue for dismissal at a later time.
Cross-claims
The litigation, which includes cross-claims by Richard Neu against his daughter, has been pending since 2017. It was first reported by TradeWinds in January this year.
Vazquez also declined to dismiss Amy Neu’s complaint on grounds not related to jurisdiction, but without prejudice. This means Richard Neu’s lawyers can still argue for dismissal at a later time.
At the same time, the court agreed to dismiss some of the claims Richard Neu has brought against his daughter. Other complaints, involving respondents other than Amy Neu, were allowed to stand for now.
The nature of Richard Neu’s claims was not immediately clear, as the court has allowed him to file various documents under seal, on the grounds of protecting business secrets. His defence against his daughter’s charges has also remained confidential.
“Mr Neu and his affiliated entities not only deny the allegations against them, but have asserted very serious cross-claims in response,” Evensen told TradeWinds in an email in January.
The court is allowing both sides to file further papers based on this month’s ruling, but the judge has also urged the parties to discuss a settlement ahead of a status conference in January.
Amy Neu’s strongest allegations have to do with her father’s alleged plays in the stock market.
“Richard has gambled away approximately $150m on shockingly non-diverse stock portfolios primarily funded through purchases on margin even though the business purposes of all the companies owned by the trusts — essentially shipping and real-estate companies — are entirely unrelated to stock market investing,” she claimed in her 2017 complaint.
Such activity caused General Ore to become “functionally bankrupt” last year, she alleged.
However, as TradeWinds reported in April, subsequent court filings showed that the Hamburg-based company was able to complete a contentious $50m borrowing needed to maintain its liquidity. This was achieved partly through Richard Neu’s contribution of $10m in new equity, filings indicated.
The financial restructuring was overseen by lender DNB, which took comfort from the addition of Evensen to the management team, filings indicated.
The General Ore fleet includes nine capesize or VLOC units and six large gas carriers ranging from 60,000 cbm to 82,000 cbm. The average age of both vessel classes is nine years and the overall fleet is valued at roughly $615m, according to VesselsValue.
