The other day DT regular Seth wondered who else besides Daddy TYpes was covering the financial and offshore corporate shell game shenanigans of the Maclaren USA bankruptcy mess.
Fortunately, the Huffington Post's Alice Hines is on the case, too. In her report last night, Hines says there are at least 20 toddler finger amputations, dating back at least seven years, and that the recent agreement of "Maclaren" to honor the liability claims against "Maclaren USA" really just amounts to them agreeing that the settlement talks can go forward Maclaren USA's insurance provider.
She also has one of the clearest explanations I've seen to date of the tangled web of holding companies, manufacturers, subsidiaries, services providers, and distributors that Maclaren owner Farzad Rastegar has woven:
In March, Rastegar's bankruptcy lawyers claimed that Maclaren USA had no knowledge of the ownership of Maclaren Hong Kong Limited. Bankruptcy trustee Napolitano disputed the claim in a court document filed April 24, writing that she believed the U.S. company possessed "knowledge sufficient to allow complete responses to her requests for information." Maclaren USA owes $13.1 million to Maclaren Hong Kong Limited, according to bankruptcy filings.Just when you begin to wonder if Rastegar kisses his mother with that mouth, it turns out she's in on the whole, long grift.Rastegar, subpoenaed in New York on May 10, testified that both Maclaren Hong Kong Limited and Maclaren Distribution Limited (the parent company of Maclaren Europe Limited) are owned by his mother and sister.
Anyone know how I can get my screenplay in front of Anjelica Huston?
Maclaren Stroller Maker Pledges Settlement With Children Whose Fingers Were Amputated [huffingtonpost]
