GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Creditors Challenge Planet Hollywood's Bankruptcy Plan

ORLANDO-Creditors of Planet Hollywood International Inc. are challenging a newly filed Chapter 11 reorganization plan, alleging Planet chairman/CEO Robert I. Earl is doing insider deals with the plan that would benefit him personally and the company corporately. Earl denies the charge.

As an example of their suspicions, the creditors’ Orlando lawyer Denise Dell cites, in a court-filed motion, the May 13-filed plan. The plan notes a pending sale of Planet’s London property to a buyers’ group controlled by Earl and Tom Avallone, the firm’s former chief financial officer.

In an unusual move, Dell is asking U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur B. Briskman to appoint a special examiner to audit the restaurant chain’s financials. Scott Shuker, representing Planet and Earl, has agreed to the request.