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Bankruptcy trustee wants Corso to return 38 Studios payments [The Providence Journal, R.I.](Providence Journal (RI) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 16--WILMINGTON, Del. -- The lawyer handling the 38 Studios' bankruptcy case in Delaware is making his latest bid to recover money from the people and companies that did business with the failed Providence video-game company. The trustee in the federal bankruptcy portion of the 38 Studios' legal case wants Providence lawyer Michael Corso to return some of the money 38 Studios paid him during its brief existence. The complaint filed Oct. 3 at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware by trustee Jeoffrey Burtch said Corso should not have been paid $232,800 shortly before the company collapsed because 38 Studios "was insolvent on the date that such transfer was made." The payment was just some of the money paid out to vendors in the waning days of the company's existence. 38 Studios filed for federal bankruptcy in June 2012, just months after it released its first video game. The company never completed the more-complicated game which underpinned a $75-million loan guarantee the R.I. Economic Development Corp. gave it to move to Providence. While the bulk of that case was transferred to R.I. Superior Court, Burtch continues to oversee a portion of it -- including trying to get money back from some of the company's vendors. He's reached settlements with a number of those, including a Providence hotel, computer technicians and others in 2014. According to the Oct. 3 filing, Corso billed 38 Studios $232,800 for "professional services rendered July 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011." He charged $485 an hour for 480 hours of work. The company paid Corso in March 2012, as it was spiraling toward a June bankruptcy. Burtch wants Corso to return the payment, plus interest and legal fees. Corso is a film tax-credit broker who borrowed the $8.5 million from Bank RI and loaned it to 38 Studios for operating capital, appears in the bankruptcy papers as both a creditor and someone who was paid for various services. He was paid $300,000 for a consulting agreement through his company Kingston Capital Group. Corso's Orb Development also had a contract with 38 Studios that promised him 10 percent of the company's construction budget for 1 Empire Plaza, its downtown Providence office. ___ (c)2014 The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.) Visit The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.) at www.projo.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |