They Left Us With An Axel To Grind
I sold car parts. I was a very small player in a relatively niche market that contained a couple of other small players and two big players. One of the big players collapsed, owing a lot of people money. It was very unfortunate, but it happens. Administrators were called in, and the owner issued an emotional message on Facebook, saying how sorry he was, that there was a sickness in the family, etc., but not to worry.
He said the business had $400K in new stock on the shelf, and the administrators would sort it all out. But it was all a lie. It turned out that he knew he was about to fold. He continued taking people’s money, even though he had zero intention or capability of supplying them. He transferred the secondhand parts side of the business into a new company that his father opened under the same name at the same address.
The new business also scored the website. He somehow worked out a deal with the administrators whereby the $400K in new stock was purchased by the new company for only $14.5K because the new business would not give the administrators access to the website to identify any of the specialty parts. Everyone he owed money to were going to get pennies on the dollar.