Hunt Energy Corp

Multimillionaire brothers Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt each filed for personal bankruptcy protection Wednesday to avoid having to post a $225-million bond required for appealing a federal jury verdict against them. A spokesman for the Hunts said the brothers decided to seek Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection from creditors to keep Minpeco SA, which won the verdict against them, from beginning foreclosure proceedings on their personal assets until the appeal could be made.

Multimillionaire brothers Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt each filed for personal bankruptcy protection Wednesday to avoid having to post a $225-million bond required for appealing a federal jury verdict against them. A spokesman for the Hunts said the brothers decided to seek Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection from creditors to keep Minpeco SA, which won the verdict against them, from beginning foreclosure proceedings on their personal assets until the appeal could be made.

The billionaire Hunt brothers, who have settled a $714-million debt for Penrod Drilling Co., are on the verge of settling a sister company's $704-million debt with 18 of the world's largest banks, a Hunt Energy Corp. vice president said. The $704-million debt is against Placid Oil Co., which is being reorganized under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The proposed Penrod settlement filed Thursday with U.S.

Attorneys for the wealthy Hunt family of Dallas told the U.S. Tax Court on Monday that millions of dollars transferred from Nelson Bunker Hunt to his children in 1980 were loans to cover losses in the silver market and not taxable gifts. In a trial consolidating eight cases against the prominent oil family, the Internal Revenue Service is seeking resolution of more than $358 million in tax claims related to the Hunts' ill-fated silver buyout in 1979 and 1980.

Federal regulators Thursday charged controversial Texas millionaires Nelson Bunker Hunt and W. Herbert Hunt and four associates with having manipulated the silver futures market in 1979 and 1980 in a scheme that ultimately produced more than $1 billion in losses for the two Hunt brothers and threatened the stability of a major brokerage house. The administrative complaint by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been awaited for years since the Hunt's celebrated buying spree.