COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The former chairman of
bankrupt Carolina Investors plans to seek help from the
company to pay his bail before his trial.
Earle Morris Jr. is scheduled to be in U.S. Bankruptcy
Court on Wednesday morning.
Morris also was supposed to appear Wednesday morning in
state court to enter a plea to 24 charges of securities fraud.
But that hearing has been indefinitely postponed because of
the icy weather.
Morris will likely have to post bail or stay in jail until
his trial. So Morris is asking Bankruptcy Court permission to
pay his bail by using part of a $10 million insurance policy
bought for him and other directors by Carolina Investors and
its parent company, HomeGold.
Court-appointed trustee Ralph McCullough is now running the
company and is fighting the request. McCullough also has sued
Morris and other company officials.
Any money paid by the insurance policy to former company
officials is money that will not be returned to HomeGold's
creditors, McCullough said.
"We don't feel it's appropriate for the insurance policy to
be used for this purpose," McCullough said.
Morris' lawyer, Joel Collins Jr., couldn't immediately be
reached for comment Tuesday.
Information from: The State
