Helionetics Ordered to Pay $1.7-Million Judgment

Helionetics Inc., a maker of power and computer equipment, said Wednesday that it lost a court battle and has been ordered to pay a $1.7-million judgment to a businessman in Hawaii.

Daniel Coplan, an attorney for Helionetics, said the company plans to appeal the judgment. Meanwhile, he said the company was in serious danger of collection efforts.

The company said a judge in Santa Monica Superior Court last week ordered it to pay the $1.7 million to Richard O’Brien, a Honolulu businessman with whom the company struck a deal in 1987.

The deal, which the company did not describe, fell through and O’Brien sued in 1988. Coplan said the company could not afford to defend itself, and O’Brien won a $1.5-million default judgment.

Helionetics settled the suit by offering O’Brien $125,000 and 81,800 shares of restricted stock, to be paid over the course of 270 days. The company made each payment except the final one for $25,000, due in February, 1992.

In October, O’Brien began legal proceedings to win another default judgment, this time for $1.7 million. On Jan. 7, the judge denied Helionetics’ motion to vacate the judgment.

Coplan said that the company suffered from a lack of cash and that it has other pending judgments. In December, the company said its auditor, Arthur Andersen & Co., had resigned.

Coplan said the company is trying to reach another settlement with O’Brien.