US Trustee opposes Celsius’ $2.9M employee bonus plan

The United States Trustee has opposed Celsius’s request to pay up to $2.9 million as retention bonuses to employees involved in the bankruptcy process.

Celsius Network had filed a motion to implement a  key employee retention plan (KERP) for 62 employees. It said that the employees are essential to its restructuring process and need to be incentivized to continue working.

Celsius claimed that the employees are not top executives but did not provide further details on their identity and role.

Bonus not justified

The U.S. Trustee opposed the motion in an Oct. 27 filing on the grounds that the $2.9 million bonus is illogical and not justifiable.

According to the U.S. Trustee, it is not logical that a company that has shut down its operations and owes about $4.7 billion to customers would propose a multi-million bonus scheme for its employees.

In addition, the Trustee said that Celsius failed to provide factual information about the KERP participants. It argued that the participants may be insiders who will end up benefiting from the bonus-sharing scheme.

The U.S. Trustee added that the KERP bonuses are not tied to identifiable metrics that would enable the bankruptcy committee to ascertain its impact on the restructuring process.

Consequently, the U.S. Trustee asked the bankruptcy court to reject the motion, pending when Celsius provides sufficient information about the KERP participants.

Celsius set to auction assets

Following a court decision on Oct. 25, Celsius is accepting bidding proposals from parties interested in buying its remaining assets.

According to the bidding schedule, Celsius will auction its assets on Dec. 15, while the sales document will be handed over to the winner on Dec. 22.