Oilman’s Debt of $149 Million Is Discharged

In one of the largest personal bankruptcy cases ever, an oilman whose fortunes went bust along with the rest of the energy industry has been relieved of $149 million in personal, unsecured debts.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Manuel Leal discharged the debts amassed by drilling contractor Charles Marvin Hall, attorney John A. D’Onofrio said Monday.

A bankruptcy judge is required to forgive a bankrupt’s debts if no creditors object to the discharge.

D’Onofrio said only Allied Bank of Texas objected to the discharge of Hall’s debts, but dropped its objection after an investigation found no fraud on Hall’s part. Allied Bank was owed $11,300 in unsecured debts, according to bankruptcy records.

Records supplied by D’Onofrio showed that Hall’s debts included as much as $33 million in loans received through Penn Square Bank of Oklahoma City or Continental Illinois Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago. Penn Square collapsed in 1982, while Continental was bailed out by the government.

Other unsecured creditors whose loans were discharged were Crocker National Bank in San Francisco, which was purchased by Wells Fargo & Co. last year, $55 million; Nichimen America Inc., $40 million, and Commercial Credit Business Loans Inc. in Dallas, $10 million.

Before Hall filed for personal bankruptcy in June, 1986, in what D’Onofrio said was one of the largest such cases ever, he was in partnership or engaged in six businesses that are now in bankruptcy court or defunct.

Hall is now president of Gulf Energy Inc., a Houston company that was not involved in his personal bankruptcy case.