Owner says judgment won't affect glass plant

John Ghaznavi said the woman, Petra Buschmeier, and her attorneys are trying to pressure him and embarrass him in search of a settlement of the dispute.

The woman won the judgment in 2000 from an international arbitration board against G&G Investments. U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry this week ruled that she be allowed to proceed in her attempt to collect.

Ghaznavi said she is free to get in line with other unsecured creditors of Consumer's Packaging Co., the bankrupt glass-making empire he formerly presided over that once included six bottle-making plants in Canada, as well as Anchor Glass Container Corp. of Tampa Bay, Fla., which has a plant in Connellsville, Fayette County, and Glenshaw Glass.

"This has nothing to do with my personal assets or with Glenshaw," he said.

The Canadian plants were bought from bankruptcy by Toledo, Ohio-based Owens-Illinois Inc. and Anchor was bought by a separate group. Ghaznavi acquired the Glenshaw Glass plant, leaving only a closed plant in Hillsboro, Ill., as Consumers Packaging's primary asset.

Ghaznavi acknowledged the court's order does not permit him to sell listed assets until the dispute is resolved. But he said he had no previous plans to sell anything.

The dispute stems, Ghaznavi said, from a deal that G&G negotiated for Consumers Packaging to acquire a glass-making plant in Germany. He claims that the deal went sour after G&G withdrew an initial payment upon discovery that the company was not as profitable as initially represented.