Katahdin Federal balks at request GNP creditors seek documents

BANGOR – Katahdin Federal Credit Union is fighting a request by creditors of the former Great Northern Paper Inc. to produce documents pertaining to its relationship with the National Credit Union Association, a federal regulatory agency.

Katahdin Federal is seeking payment of $3.2 million in loans it gave former Great Northern co-owner Lambert Bedard and the parent company he headed, Inexcon Maine, through a U.S. Bankruptcy Court proceeding.

Bedard and Inexcon secured the Katahdin Federal loans with properties that were transferred to them from Great Northern. In April, a federal bankruptcy judge ordered the properties be returned to Great Northern so that the company’s two mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket could be sold.

But the judge also allowed Katahdin Federal to pursue payment of the loans through Great Northern’s bankruptcy case. Boeing Capital Corp., Great Northern’s primary creditor, is fighting Katahdin Federal’s pursuit, alleging that the property transfers shouldn’t have been conducted in the first place.

Boeing believes that as Great Northern’s primary creditor it should have been alerted to the loan and has asserted in recent months that Katahdin Federal may have ignored federal regulators regarding the loans to Bedard and Inexcon. Katahdin Federal has stated in the past that it was in full compliance of federal regulations relating to credit unions.

A trial is scheduled to begin March 1 in bankruptcy court in Bangor.

Bangor attorney Gary Growe, who is trustee of Great Northern’s bankrupt estate, and Boeing recently asked Katahdin Federal to provide copies of all examination reports, audits and related communications between itself and the National Credit Union Association.

Katahdin Federal attorney Daniel Cummings, in a letter dated Oct. 10, notified the bankruptcy court that according to federal bankruptcy law it is required to alert the court that it received a request for documents.

In the letter, Cummings said the same law indicates that Katahdin Federal “should decline to produce any records or give any testimony.”

“If the issuing court or authority orders the disclosure of records or orders you to testify, you should continue to decline to produce records or testify and should advise the Office of General Counsel,” wrote Cummings, citing verbatim the federal bankruptcy law.

Boeing, however, plans to ask a federal bankruptcy judge to order the release of the documents anyway. John McVeigh, a Portland attorney representing Boeing, said Tuesday that Boeing plans to file its request in bankruptcy court soon. A court hearing is likely to be scheduled when Boeing files its motion.

“Our next step is to force them to do it through a court order,” McVeigh said.