A federal judge in Pittsburgh has ordered John Ghaznavi, the owner of Glenshaw Glass Co., to provide an accurate list of assets and not to sell any of them, so he can pay a USD 57 million internationa…
A federal judge in Pittsburgh has ordered John Ghaznavi, the owner of Glenshaw Glass Co., to provide an accurate list of assets and not to sell any of them, so he can pay a USD 57 million international arbitration ruling against his holding company. In the week commencing 17 November 2003, U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry ordered G&G Investments Inc., of Allison Park to produce the list by 4 December 2003. In July 2003, McVerry upheld an arbitration award from the International Chamber of Commerce ordering G&G to pay USD 57 million to Petra Buschmeier, who owned a glass container company in Germany. McVerry said Buschmeier can proceed with her attempts to collect, even though Ghaznavi initially said G&G assets amounted to only USD 747 and some furniture. Ghaznavi then listed other assets, including a glass plant in Illinois, the Ghaznavi Family Trust, Glenshaw Holdings, Ghaznavi Canada Inc. and other entities. Ghaznavi bought Glenshaw Glass in 1988 and later acquired a controlling interest in several other glass companies, including Consumers Packaging Inc. of Toronto, which filed for bankruptcy in Canada in 2001. “We think the debtor still has more to explain about its assets,” said William Kealey, Buschmeier“s lawyer in Indiana. The case began in 1999, when G&G filed an arbitration claim against Buschmeier after the failure of negotiations to buy her company. Before the arbitration board ruled, Anchor Glass, which was affiliated with G&G, filed a federal lawsuit in Fort Wayne, Indiana, over a USD 17 million initial payment G&G said Buschmeier had improperly kept before the collapse of the deal. But the arbitration board ruled in December 2001 that G&G owed Buschmeier USD 57 million, which was the sum G&G had promised to pay for the German company“s shares. While the Indiana suit was pending, Buschmeier filed her own claim in Pittsburgh asking a judge to confirm the arbitration award, which McVerry did. The Indiana suit has since been dismissed.