COLUMBIA, S.C. - A U.S. Bankruptcy judge has approved the Carolina Investors and HomeGold reorganization plan, and investors could began receiving some money early next year.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge William Thurmond Bishop on Thursday appointed Ralph C. McCullough II, a Columbia bankruptcy attorney and professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina's law school, as the plan trustee.

He will oversee the companies' shutdown and administer lawsuits against those responsible for the loss of $275 million invested by about 8,000 South Carolina residents.

"This is a terribly unfortunate situation, and it appears that these companies were improperly managed and run," McCullough told the (Anderson) Independent-Mail. "It's fairly obvious that a substantial number of the players have responsibility that needs to be dealt with in a court."

U.S. Trustee Joe Buzhardt, who has guarded the public's interest in the bankruptcy cases since the two companies filed for reorganization in April, said there was no opposition to the plan at the hearing.

McCullough said the sell-off is "going to take a while."

"Anything this big has to be done carefully and methodically. We're just not going to jump in and try and blow everybody away," he said. "I want to get top dollar for the assets of the companies. It's a tough time to be selling some of these things because the economy is not so good, but we're going to do our best."

Checks from the sale of the companies' remaining assets, which include a Carolina Investors-owned mortgage pool valued as high as $40 million, could go to investors by early 2004. Assets also include the land and buildings where Carolina Investors operated offices.