Cyphermint Saga Continues In Court | Marlborough firm controlled by interim management agreement
Owners, investors, creditors and at least one interested buyer are battling over Cyphermint Inc., a Marlborough-based maker of potentially lucrative mobile payment software, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
On Sept. 3, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Joel B. Rosenthal approved the following:
• An interim management agreement for C.A. Acquisition Corp. to run the company until it is sold.
• A motion giving U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee Joseph H. Baldiga authority to maintain Cypermint’s existing bank accounts and to compel individuals with Cyphermint financial knowledge by subpoena if necessary.
• Procedures for the eventual sale of Cypermint’s assets.
The judge also expressed his “discomfort” with the relationship between Sheffield Corp., one of Cyphermint’s creditors, and C.A. Acquisition Corp., the company that will run it temporarily until a sale occurs and at least one of the parties interested in buying the company outright.
Sheffield Corp., based in Winchester, claims it is owed nearly $100,000 by Cyphermint and was one of three firms to file for Cyphermint’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy. But it also came out in court that Sheffield is a 12 percent owner of C.A. Acquisition Corp.
Worcester Attorney James P. Ehrhard objected to the proposed sale, calling C.A. Acquisition’s proposed purchase of $250,000, a “bait and switch offer.” He represents two Russian investment companies, Promtex LLC and SIA AMTO.
Attorney Philip F. Coppinger, with Seder & Chandler of Worcester, represented former Cyphermint CEOs Jospeph Barboza and Robert Bowdring and objected to the speed with which the asset sale is proceeding.
The offer that has been on the table through the trustee, and which has now been filed with the court, shows C.A. Acquisition Corp. offering $100,000 in cash, with another $125,000 to be paid over the next two years.
The court has also received e-mails from Anton Emelyanov, the sole Cyphermint director in Russia, which said Russian Cyphermint directors Ivan Kuznetsov,Victor Dostov and Ildar Khamitov resigned July 9. Joseph Baldiga, the bankruptcy trustee, was trying to track down and interview about the company’s business.
He said that C.A. Acquisition Corp. signed a sale agreement earlier this year for $3.3 million, held all the company’s assets for four months, offered less to buy the company and then asked Sheffield Corp. to force the company into bankruptcy proceedings.
Counteroffers and additional objections must be filed with the court by the end of the day on Sept. 25, and a hearing on them will start at 8 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 29.
On Aug. 21 three creditors petitioned the bankruptcy court to involuntarily liquidate the company so they could get the money they claim they were owed. The companies listed in the complaint were: Sheffield Corp. of Winchester, High-Grade Cleaning Service of Hudson and MetroWest Printing of Marlborough.
At the same time, their lawyer requested that a trustee be appointed to the case because a sale of the assets was in progress and the creditors were worried that the assets might be sent overseas.
The company has mostly Russian investors, some of whom invested in the company as recently as this year, including Sergey Bodrunov, a general director at one of Russia’s defense companies, Airspace Equipment Co.
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