Tara Jewels Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

New York—Wholesaler Tara Jewels LLC and its parent company, Tara Jewels Holdings, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court in New York.

Tara Jewels is wholly-owned by its parent company, which is owned by Tara Jewels Ltd., an Indian company that operates a chain of retail stores. A court in Mumbai, India began insolvency proceedings against Tara Jewels in November 2018 on behalf of its creditors.

In the bankruptcy case in the U.S., New York-based Tara Jewels claims between $500,000 to $1 million in assets while Tara Jewels Holdings lists between $0 to $50,000.

Both entities have liabilities in the range of $10 million to $50 million, court documents show.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy is sometimes called “reorganization” bankruptcy, as it generally gives the debtor time to put a plan in place to repay its debts while, at the same time, restructuring the business so it can continue.

Richard T. Faughnan of Kroll, a New York-based corporate investigations and risk consulting firm, has been named chief restructuring officer in the Tara Jewels case. He declined to respond to National Jeweler’s request for comment on the proceedings.

A meeting of creditors is set for the afternoon of July 23 at the Office of the U.S. Trustee in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

Tara Jewel Ltd., which started as a jewelry manufacturer, began its wholesale operations in 2006 when it partnered with M. Fabrikant & Sons.

In November 2006, M. Fabrikant & Sons and its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but its foreign and domestic affiliates were not included in the filing.

Fabrikant-Tara filed for bankruptcy protection then and again in 2008, according to court documents.

The company continued to operate as Fabrikant-Tara until 2015, when then-CEO Matthew Fortgang, the former CEO of M. Fabrikant & Sons, left and it dropped the Fabrikant name.

Tara Jewels has been a supplier for Walmart Inc., Signet Jewelers Ltd., Blue Nile, and Helzberg Diamonds, according to its annual report, and collaborated with designer Zac Posen on the jewelry line sold through Blue Nile starting in fall 2014.

Tara Jewels’ attorney did not respond to National Jeweler’s request for comment on the bankruptcy filing.