ROCKLAND, Maine — November 26, 2012 — The city has filed a lawsuit against a Massachusetts man for failing to pay for use of the municipal fish pier and claims that he operated the business as a sham to avoid personal responsibility for debts.
Rockland filed the lawsuit Monday in Knox County Superior Court against Rockland Lobster Co. LLC and its sole principal, Antonio Bussone of Chelsea, Mass.
The city is asking the court to order Bussone to pay the city $31,173 plus interest, and attorney and court costs.
Rockland Lobster and its predecessor Live Lobster Co. Inc., which the city said also was owned by Bussone, sold bait and bought lobsters at the city-owned fish pier from 2005 through 2012.
The companies had paid the necessary fees and other charges before 2012, according to the lawsuit.
The city said Rockland Lobster applied and was granted permits to conduct business at the fish pier in 2012 as a bait dealer and to buy lobsters.
The company operated at the pier in early 2012, selling bait, buying lobsters, using floats and storing equipment, such as bait coolers and pallets, at the pier. The company also used electricity and fuel from the pier.
Many of Live Lobster’s operations in Maine, including a lobster processing facility in Prospect Harbor, ceased functioning earlier this year after the company’s primary lender, TD Bank, froze the company’s accounts. In April, TD Bank filed suit against the lobster distributor, claiming the firm violated terms of a 2008 loan agreement for $4 million from the bank. That suit later was dropped, but the bank arranged a foreclosure auction that saw assets sold off in September.
Rockland Lobster ceased doing business at the Rockland pier on or about April 20.
Read the full article at the Bangor Daily News