Greeley call center Signia files for Ch. 11 bankruptcy

GREELEY — A former Broomfield call center that has moved to Greeley has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy stemming from a case in which it was found to have made false transactions and false billings to an erectile-dysfunction company in 2019-2020.

Signia Ltd., doing business as Public Interest Communications, filed for bankruptcy protection in June after months of legal maneuvers involving a $2.05 million judgment for false dealings with Male Excel Medical, P.A., based in Nevada, for which it marketed and sold its product. The company had filed for bankruptcy in 2023 due to the lawsuit, but had to cancel it and refile.

Signia’s bankruptcy claims more than $10 million in liabilities, including the Male Excel judgment and the company’s legal expenses to take the matter to court.

The company had originally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sept. 27, 2023, shortly after the Male Excel judgment against it, stemming from a 14-day trial. Then, Judge Mark Denton found that Signia representatives did not operate in good faith, and ordered $2.05 million in judgment against the company.

“Despite contractual obligations, the evidence shows Signia took advantage of Male Excel’s status as a start-up, as well as its trust. Signia engaged in a series of unauthorized actions to inflate its sales figures and artificially increase both the hours charged and the commission amounts invoiced to Male Excel,” Denton wrote in his order.

Mark Dennis, a certified public accountant and partner in SL Biggs, A Division of Singer Lewak LLP in Denver, who was appointed as the subchapter 5 trustee in the case, said Signia’s bankruptcy filing was under subchapter 5 of Chapter 11. When filing bankruptcy under this particular subchapter, debts are limited to $7.5 million. Debtors must file a plan of reorganization within 90 days of its petition. In the first bankruptcy, Signia did not meet its deadline, and a bankruptcy judge denied Signia’s request for an extension of time. And Signia had to cancel it.

Signia refiled its bankruptcy June 20, citing more than $10 million in liabilities, though it disputes the now $2.94 million debt to Male Excel for the judgment and attorney fees. That is also why they filed under Subchapter 5.  Signia has appealed its judgment to the Nevada Court of Appeals.

Among its debts, the filing reports:

• $3.56 million in Small Business Administration loans with another company, Jaft Ventures (same ownership as Signia) but reports payments are current.
• $2.94 million (disputed) debt to Male Excel.
• $2.13 million in revolving note to Sulit Group.
• $217,844 in attorney and legal fees.
• $543,168 to National Research and Polling Group Ltd.
• $59,932 in unpaid bills.
• $1,713 in Colorado payroll taxes.
• $1450 in Pennsylvania payroll taxes.
• $1,617 in business personal property taxes.
• $83,600 to the Internal Revenue Service.

The filing reports just more than $500,000 in assets. The most-recent court filing was a July 1 request by Signia to use its available cash to continue to operate. The request was granted temporarily with restrictions. There will be a final hearing on that request on July 31.

A public meeting of creditors is set for 9 a.m. July 23.

A call to the call center in Greeley was not returned.

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