A financial dispute spanning from Chicago to the Caribbean has landed in bankruptcy court, with creditors claiming the case represents a blatant attempt to evade justice rather than a legitimate business reorganization.
Global Capital Partners LLC and Access Management S.A.S. filed a motion on May 29 to dismiss Green Sapphire Holdings' Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, arguing the petition was filed in "blatant bad faith" and serves no valid reorganization purpose. The motion, filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleges the timing and circumstances surrounding the bankruptcy reveal it as merely a "litigation management tactic" designed to thwart a ruling in Delaware Chancery Court.
"This chapter 11 case should be dismissed for cause because the putative debtor, Green Sapphire Holdings, Inc., has filed its petition in blatant bad faith," attorneys from Dentons US LLP wrote in the motion. "Green Sapphire lacks any valid reorganization purpose and filed solely to forestall a judgment in a pending state court action brought by its lender Global Capital."
According to the motion, Green Sapphire is not in financial distress, with assets valued between $50 million and $100 million that "far exceed its liabilities to third-party creditors," which total just $308,052.11, primarily owed to law firms and an accounting firm. The debtor's financial statements indicate that over 99% of its purported debt is owed to Alpha Carta Ltd., an alleged insider entity within the "Ritchie Family Office" structure.
The motion connects both Green Sapphire and Alpha Carta to investment manager Thane Ritchie, describing him as a "serial litigant with a long record of breaching contracts by claiming fraud." While Ritchie is portrayed as the ultimate beneficial owner of Alpha Carta, his wife Juleen Ritchie is identified as the ultimate beneficial owner of Green Sapphire, with "operational control of the family office" lying with Mr. Ritchie.
At the heart of the dispute is an $11 million loan that Global Capital extended to Green Sapphire in February 2023, secured by Green Sapphire's subsidiary Access Management and two real estate properties in St. Barthélemy, including one known as "Villa Mona." After Green Sapphire allegedly defaulted, the parties entered into a Loan Settlement Agreement in February 2024 where Green Sapphire acknowledged the default and confirmed Global Capital's ownership of the collateral.
Two months later, according to the motion, "Mr. Ritchie apparently decided he was better off reneging on the Loan Settlement Agreement" and began challenging the loan's validity. Global Capital filed suit in Delaware Chancery Court in August 2024, seeking to confirm its ownership rights.
The motion alleges that Green Sapphire engaged in a pattern of "tactical delays" in the Delaware litigation, culminating in its counsel's withdrawal due to non-payment. When the Delaware court ordered Green Sapphire to retain new counsel by May 16, 2025, or face default, the company instead hired bankruptcy counsel on May 12 and filed its Chapter 11 petition on May 14.
"The timing makes clear that Green Sapphire filed its petition as a last-ditch effort to derail the Chancery Court Case," the motion argues.
Global Capital's attorneys cite recent precedents including cases related to 3M and Johnson & Johnson where courts rejected attempts by financially healthy companies to use bankruptcy as a litigation management tool. The motion quotes Green Sapphire's own admission that it filed bankruptcy to address a "procedural morass" of "multiple litigation matters in multiple venues" and "to centralize the litigation in a single forum."
The motion also highlights an allegedly similar maneuver by a Ritchie-controlled entity in 2018, when Ritchie Risk-Linked Strategies filed for bankruptcy just before facing an adverse state court ruling. That bankruptcy was withdrawn after the U.S. Trustee moved to dismiss it as filed in bad faith, the motion states.
Additionally, the motion challenges the characterization of funds transferred from Alpha Carta to Green Sapphire, claiming these were recorded as "Affiliate Equity" on Green Sapphire's books for years before being suddenly recharacterized as loans. According to the motion, Alpha Carta claims Green Sapphire never made payments on an "unsecured loan" of $85 million over five years, yet continued to transfer funds.
A hearing on the motion to dismiss is scheduled before Judge Jacqueline Cox on June 24, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. CDT. The movants are requesting that the case be dismissed with prejudice, barring Green Sapphire from refiling for bankruptcy for one year.
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