A group of creditors has filed an involuntary petition for bankruptcy against former Loudoun restaurant owner Osama El-Atari, who owned the Original Steakhouse in Ashburn, among other restaurants.
The creditors that filed the bankruptcy claim – United Bank of Vienna; BankAnnapolis of Annapolis, Md.; Kevin Korban, of Chevy Chase, Md.; and Northern Trust Bank, of Cleveland, Ohio – said that El-Atari owed them more than $41.6 million.
The creditors filed the petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on June 20 in U.S. bankruptcy court. A summons was filed on June 22, alerting El-Atari that an involuntary bankruptcy petition was filed in his name.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases are filed for liquidating one’s assets, the proceeds of which go to the creditors. Under Chapter 7, the debtors’ property may be subject to liens and mortgages, or they could lose the property all together.
Attorney David Tatge of Epstein Becker & Green in Washington represents the creditors. Judge Stephen Mitchell will hear the case.
When United Bank representatives tried to get in contact with El-Atari, they were told he was in London.
Garnishment summonses were sent to several banks where El-Atari was believed to have accounts. All of the accounts were either closed or had all of the money withdrawn from them, court documents said.
Employees at El-Atari’s former restaurants posted signs saying that he has no relationship with them anymore. El-Atari’s home telephone line has been disconnected.
Sad that a person with this much was will to throw it away over stupidy