In a recent bankruptcy filing, Advanta said it had $98 million in cash. If all that money were applied to the $234 million owed to two classes of creditors, recovery would be 42 cents for every dollar of debt. But no bankruptcy is that straightforward. Asked by The Inquirer to examine Advanta's financial filings, Catanach said that there could be a little more money to distribute from the sale of a modern art collection with an estimated value of $4.3 million and other assets, such as receivables from subsidiaries, of uncertain value. Catanach, whose experience analyzing troubled financial institutions goes back to the 1980s savings-and-loan crisis, cautioned that an unknown amount of money will be eaten up getting the firm through bankruptcy. Two bankruptcy law firms asked for payments of nearly $180,000 in the last two weeks for work since the Nov. 8 filing. Lavage said he and his wife were not distraught at their loss, even though he is convinced that Alter, who built a 38,000-square-foot house in Whitemarsh Township and donated $15 million for a building at Temple University, "did things that are misleading." Citing a Psalm verse, Lavage said Thursday: "If someone steals your money, the Lord will restore it seven times. I'm standing on that." Meanwhile in Burlington, 90-year-old Irving Horwitz said he had gotten an offer for his $29,000 in Advanta notes that would pay him 10 to 15 cents on the dollar. Horwitz, who said he had been a satisfied Advanta investor for 40 years at least, back to the days of founder Jack Alter, had a different assessment of Dennis: "I know that Alters are very honest people. He'll do his best to pay everybody back."
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2010 Media Report Villanova School of Business