A group of hedge funds that are holding Puerto Rico debt are suing the U.S. territory and Governor Alejandro Garc\u00eda Padilla. Monarch Alternative Capital, Aurelius Capital Management, Stone Lion Capital Partners, Covalent Capital Partner, Aurelius Capital Management, Fundamental Credit Opportunities, and a number of other funds claim that Puerto Rico and Governor Garc\u00eda violated PROMESA, which stands for the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act. President Barack Obama signed the new debt restructuring law on June 30, which is when Garc\u00eda issued a debt moratorium on the nearly $800 million in general obligation debt that was due on July 1 (along with other Puerto Rico debt for a collective total of about $2 billion). The hedge funds say that Governor Garc\u00eda had no legal right to call a debt moratorium in the wake of PROMESA.<\/p>\n
The bondholders want the court to stop the island from \u201cunlawfully dissipating\u201d assets before a federal oversight board is appointed. PROMESA places the U.S. territory under the supervision of the board, which is tasked with pressing for fiscal reform and supervising spending. However, the board won\u2019t be in place for at least two months.<\/p>\n
In their complaint, filed in United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, the creditors claimed that Governor Garc\u00eda took advantage of this time gap in implementation and is spending hundreds of million dollars in ways that garner “political favor.\u201d The hedge funds argued that certain expenditures would have been challenged by the board if it were already in place. <\/p>\n
The plaintiffs, as holders of general obligation bonds, say they are entitled to some of the money being spent because Puerto Rico still owes them the debt payments. They want the district court to freeze the payments that have been issued and mark them as invalid until the board can take a look at them. <\/p>\n