CAMDEN, N.J. — Lawyers for billionaires Donald Trump and Carl Icahn made their opening courtroom moves Tuesday in a real-life version of Monopoly over who should control some prized Atlantic City property. Like the board game, it could take a while to determine the winner.
The case goes back a year. Trump Entertainment Resorts, a company that owns three casinos that bear Trump’s name but is not now under his control, filed for bankruptcy in February 2009.
There were efforts to come up with a single plan that would pay creditors and set a course for the company’s future. But they never came together. Now, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith Wizmur is being asked to choose between two rival plans and decide which group of creditors should get control.
Icahn, a Trump rival who bought Atlantic City’s Tropicana Casino and Resort out of bankruptcy last year, would eliminate the company’s debt and contribute more than $600 million in equity, according to lawyer Jeffrey Jonas. The Associated Press
