U.S. judge freezes assets of Correo Argentino
A U.S. court has frozen the assets of Correo Argentino S.A., a mail delivery company that owes money to the Argentine government, in an action initiated by an investor trying to recoup money lost in the country’s 2002 bond default, a lawyer in the case said.
“We asked the judge to hold money in the New York accounts of Correo Argentino until it is determined to whom those funds belong,” said Guillermo Gleizer, lawyer for Macrotecnic International, an Uruguayan company that holds $550,000 in defaulted Argentine bonds.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa on Friday issued an order freezing the assets of Correo Argentino, Gleizer said. The court was closed on Monday for the U.S. Presidents Day holiday.
Griesa will hold a conference Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. to determine whether Macrotecnic has a right to seize the assets.
More holders of Argentine bonds are trying to seize assets after the country offered to repay only 25 percent of the $88 billion in debt it defaulted on in January 2002. Bondholders want at least 65 cents on the dollar.
This is the third time a U.S. court has ordered the freeze of Argentine assets on behalf of bond holders. Last week U.S. courts froze Argentine state properties in Washington DC and Maryland.
Investors hope the rulings will pressure Argentina into softening its stance on the debt restructuring.
Argentina has said it will appeal these cases.
Gleizer said he does not know how much money is in Correo Argentino’s accounts but Argentine media said it totaled $11 million.
Argentina claims that Correo Argentino owes the government $220 million.
Correo Argentino was owned by Argentina’s Macri Group until the government in November stripped it of the country’s indebted concession. The postal office had filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to pay state concession fees and running up heavy debts.
