Former CEO of the defunct railroad company Vertex, Donald Croteau, filed for bankruptcy in May, filing a filing of debts related to Vertex Railcar Corp. and its predecessor, Vertex Rail Technologies LLC.
The Chapter 7 filing in the U.S. Eastern District Bankruptcy Court of North Carolina listed more than $ 780,000 in liabilities.
By far the largest debt in the filing is described as a judgment and business debt of approximately $ 500,000 owed to Daniel Bigda, a founding partner of Vertex Rail Technologies LLC.
Bigda was previously sued by Vertex, and also sued Vertex and Croteau. On Wednesday, Bigda, who lives in Massachusetts, said his lawsuit against the company and Croteau, which resulted from Bigda’s 35 percent stake in Vertex Rail Technologies and failure to generate any revenue from the company, is still pending in Massachusetts.
Arrived on Wednesday, Croteau declined to comment on the story.
Croteau, along with the then government. Pat McCrory and state and local officials announced in November 2014 that Vertex Rail Technologies is coming to Wilmington and will create more than 1,300 jobs at the former Terex Crane facility, 202 Raleigh St.
Officials at the time, including Croteau, said the company would supply new tankers that meet new government safety regulations.
Before Croteau came to Wilmington, he previously ran a Massachusetts company, Vertex Fab & Design. In May 2015, he filed for bankruptcy on behalf of Vertex F&D, a case that closed in 2019.
In the years following Vertex Rail’s initial announcement in Wilmington, the excitement created by the arrival of Vertex was followed by lawsuits, layoffs, a collapse in rail car demand, and finally, in late 2018, the closure of Vertex Railcar Corp.
Vertex Railcar Corp. was a joint venture between Vertex Rail Technologies and Chinese investors.
In 2019, the closed Vertex Railcar Corp involuntary bankruptcy Petition alleging the company owed more than $ 45 million. The last document filed in this case came in January of this year and related to a sale of assets that resulted in gross proceeds of $ 425,000 and net proceeds for the estate of $ 230,000.
Croteau’s bankruptcy filing in May of that year said he would be CEO of Vertex Railcar Corp. from June 2015 to November 2017 when he stepped down. was and did not hold any ownership interest. Vertex Rail Technologies and Vertex Railcar Corp. are listed as complicit in Croteau’s files.
Nowadays, Croteau is a Wilmington based real estate agent listed on the Keller Williams Wilmington website. He has also represented a Wilmington-based developer, Thriving LLC, on proposed projects in Columbus County. These projects include a subdivision for which a conditional use permit was approved by Whiteville City Council on Tuesday evening an article in the news reporter.
