Billionaire asks US Bankruptcy court to investigate China State Construction US unit

The Baha Mar resort in Nassau. Photo: Adobe Stock

BML Properties, a property company belonging to billionaire Sarkis Izmirlian asked the US Bankruptcy Court District of New Jersey to investigate China Construction America (CCA) Inc, a company affiliated with Chinese state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corp.

CCA filed for US bankruptcy protection in December after a Supreme Court judge in the State of New York ordered it to pay US$1.6 billion to BML in a long running legal dispute centering around construction delays on the luxury Baha Mar resort in Nassau.

Following an 11-day trial last year, Justice Andrew Borrok found that CCAB had deliberately slowed down work on the project, working against the best interests of BML Properties. 

CCA Construction Inc said that it is appealing the ruling against it in New York.

A CCA Construction Inc spokesman said: “BML Properties’ latest attempt to frustrate the orderly administration of the chapter 11 proceedings betrays its concern about our appeal of the trial court’s wrongful decision, and we look forward to arguing our case before the New York appellate court. In the meantime, CCA Construction Inc. is complying fully with the Bankruptcy Court’s requirements, including by providing extensive discovery to BML Properties.”

BML’s motion in the US Bankruptcy Court runs parallel to a separate winding up petition it filed in the Supreme Court of the Bahamas earlier this month seeking to liquidate two more indirect CSCEC subsidiaries - CCA Bahamas Ltd and CSCEC (Bahamas) Ltd.

BML Properties collapsed in 2015 after a delay in opening the resort and launched legal proceedings in in 2017.