A man murdered his ex-wife and then killed himself in their apartment on Thursday last week in what appeared to be the tragic end to an argument over financial problems, according to the Sheriff’s Office in Tampa.  Malik Shamsher, 50 shot Erum Shamsher 44, multiple times and then turned the gun on himself while the couple’s terrified daughters hid in the bathroom.  Malik worked as a truck driver for Wes Flo Co. and earned $2,600 per month while Erum at that time was receiving unemployment benefit of $442 per month.  In 2004, the Tampa couple filed for bankruptcy with debts of $251,140.  Most of these debts were owed to banks and stores, namely JC Penny, Sears, Fashion Bug and Circuit City.

Malik and Erum were married in 2003 and had 2 daughters aged 15 and 10 when they divorced in 2006.  In their divorce settlement, the couple stated that they planned to continue to live together after their divorce.  Their last address was 104, Stone Creek Pointe apartments in Tampa, near the University of South Florida, which was the scene of the gruesome murder-suicide that took place at 6:14a.m. last Thursday.  Records show that even before their marriage, the couple had been beset with financial difficulties.

In 2002, Erum accused her then employer, the Department of Children and Families of discriminating against her due to her race and religion.  Erum, who was a Pakistani Muslim, worked in the Tampa office of the department as a Public Assistance Specialist for about 18 months before being dismissed.  The department told her that her dismissal was due to poor performance.  Erum brought a lawsuit against the department in which she described how an officer of the department had grilled her regarding her religion, hygiene and diet about a month before she was fired.  The case was settled a year or so later.  According to Erum’s attorney from Jacksonville, Jeffrey Klink, the details of the settlement are not for public record.

In 2007, the couple were themselves sued by a company managing Tampa’s River View Apartments because they failed to pay their rent.  This resulted in their eviction in July that same year.

Malik Shamsher’s family who are from Chicago and Erum’s family who still reside in Pakistan were informed of the shooting by the Sheriff Office deputies.  Malik’s family will arrange for the funeral proceedings, according to Zipperers Funeral Home in Ruskin.

Broadcasting company Freedom Communications Inc. is set to emerge from bankruptcy at the end of this month after being under bankruptcy protection since September 1 last year.  Freedom publishes 33 daily newspapers and 70 other-format publications and at the same time runs eight television stations.  Among the well-known publications of the company are the Clovis News Journal, Portales-News Tribune and the Quay County Sun.

In September last year it filed for bankruptcy at the bankruptcy court in Delaware with secured debts of $770 million.  Under the bankruptcy settlement plan, secured debts would be reduced by $445 million and unsecured creditors would share $32.2 million in debts payment.  But they are seeking to initiate legal proceedings to claim up to $25 million more from the company’s board and insurance companies.

Freedom’s long time owners, the Hoiles family would be relieved of their ownership of the company once it quits bankruptcy.  Current interim Chief Executive Burle Osborne will be appointed the company CEO together with a new board of directors.  Osborne said that he and the new board have decided they will not make major changes in the operations of the company and that Freedom through its publications and news outlets will continue to provide coverage of the needs of their communities.

The reorganization plan has been submitted to the bankruptcy court and creditors have until Monday March 1 to vote on it.  The judge is expected to confirm the case March 9 after a formal hearing takes place.  Once this happens, a few other technical matters must be completed, like the transfer of FCC licenses for the TV stations.

In the meantime, Freedom’s bankruptcy case has attracted many investors seeking to buy debts from its creditors, one of which is Angelo Gordon & Co., a New York private equity company that has already bought into other media companies like the Tribune Co. that owns the Los Angeles Times, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Philadelphia Inquirer.  At one time, the debts of Freedom Communications only had a market value of 20 cents on the dollar but with the recent flurry of interest, it has jumped to 70 cents.

Under the reorganization plans, Freedom Communications must at least double its pre-tax profits to $98 million within 4 years.  Osborne said this is achievable by adopting a four pronged strategy.

1.    Increased operational and managerial efficiency.  One ways this is already being implemented is the joint delivery of some of its newspapers with the Los Angeles Times.

2.    Increased revenue growth through smart partnerships with online news portals like Yahoo.

3.    Improved inter-divisional communication within the company

4.    Joint efforts with other media companies.

The economic downturn that started with the now infamous sub-prime mortgage property crash hit homebuilders in particular very hard. Many homebuilders ended up with a gamut of unsold homes and massive debts. One such builder is property giant Orleans Homebuilders Inc. To their credit the company has managed to stave off bankruptcy for the last two years. But recently the homebuilder filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at Wilmington. The final move it made was to seek an extension to a $350 million credit facility but this was not approved by its 17 senior secured lenders. The loan expired February 12, a date already extended from its original maturity in mid-December last year.

Under Chapter 11 procedures, Orleans has to either sell the company or reorganize its debts. Actually, the property developer did manage to find a potential buyer for its business but failed to conclude the transaction before the February 22 loan maturity deadline and after an extension to the maturity date was not granted, Orleans defaulted on their loans and subsequently had to file for bankruptcy. This was revealed at a press release by the company recently. No further comment was given on the matter by Grant P. Herdler, the Chief Financial Officer for Orleans.

Orleans was given $40 million to continue carrying out its operations while under bankruptcy pending the approval of the bankruptcy court. The company has also sought the court’s permission to continue all its home warranty programs. Meanwhile all the deposits of its clientele are safely held in escrow and thus are safe. In addition, closings that had been temporarily postponed over the last two weeks will now resume.

As at the end of last year, Orleans Homebuilders had assets worth $440 million and liabilities of $498.8 million. This includes debts of $419.1 million. Among its major unsecured trade creditors are 84 Lumber Co. in Eighty Four, Pa., to which it owed $1.47 million, Robert K. Foster Inc., a plumbing contractor company in Newfield, N.J., a $1.15 million creditor and Sunrise Concrete Co. in Rushland, Bucks County, that had $677,234 owing to them. Orleans’ total debt to trade contactors amounted to $17.74 million according to the bankruptcy filing.

But by far the largest unsecured collective debt Orleans owes is to entities known as collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) created by Taberna Realty Finance Trust, a Philadelphia company that merged with RAIT Financial Trust in 2006. The amount owing to CDOs is $93.75 million.

Naturally, Orleans’ financial problems also resulted in a reduction in its workforce. It had 990 workers in June 2006 but today is left with about 300.