Pellet firm reaches deal
Algarin to sell assets to pay back customers
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By Gordon Dritschilo Staff Writer - Published: May 15, 2009
A bankrupt wood-pellet dealer has made a deal with the state to help make sure he can pay back customers who never got their wood pellets.
The Vermont Attorney General's Office announced Thursday it reached a settlement with Luis Algarin of Florence, president of Vermont Wood Energy Corp., in which Algarin will sell assets to reimburse customers and pay as much as $80,000 in civil penalties.
The company is in bankruptcy proceedings, and Assistant Attorney General Elliot Burg said the court will prioritize consumers who did not get their pellets. He said the agreement does not preclude criminal charges, and that he does not anticipate such charges, either.
"The facts are not a matter of dispute, but Luis Algarin did not expressly admit he violated the Consumer Fraud Act," Burg said. "We felt that was less important than getting people their money back … We believe the people who paid for things they did not get will get their money back."
People with claims over stoves they bought through the company have to wait before their cases are resolved, Burg said.
"We're going to have to go back and deal with that, but we're going to do it after the bankruptcy is over and the dust is settled and we have an idea how many people are out there with unresolved complaints," he said.
The settlement requires Algarin to sell land he owns in Texas and New Hampshire. Burg said the New Hampshire properties totaled 26 acres in New Ipswich valued at about $100,000. He said he was not sure of the size or value of the Texas properties, but believed they were "quite modest."
Algarin also agreed to report income and assets to the Attorney General's office for five years and to observe limits on sales of other assets.
Jennifer Emens-Butler, attorney for VCE, said the company still hopes to recover the $200,000 deposit from an attempt to buy a mill in Pennsylvania, which she said would go a long way to reimbursing customers. She said the list of wood-pellet customers with claims is about 100 names long.
Algarin's attorney, Steven Atherton, said Algarin's goal was to do right by his customers and that filing for bankruptcy gave him options he would not have had otherwise.
"Louis has worked very hard and constructively with the Attorney General's office to come up with a plan that tries to make the best out of a bad situation," he said.
gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com
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