USVI-Based Company Mac Private Equity Files for Bankruptcy, Faces Over $500K in Lawsuits
Following a series of lawsuits claiming fraudulent behavior in business transactions, Mac Private Equity has filed for bankruptcy in a Delaware court.
2025-04-03 12:25:12 - VI News Staff
The voluntary Chapter 7 petition, filed in early March, asserts that the business owes between $1 million and $10 million, but has less than $100,000 in assets. Under question 13 of the filing form, company principal Matthew McClafferty asserts that “after any administrative expenses are paid, no funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors.”
Mr. McClafferty is the founder of Mac Private Equity Inc., which bills itself as an “American offshore fund located in the U.S. Virgin Islands with a primary focus on businesses or concepts that involve blockchain technologies.” On its website, the fund claims to be “a registered Economic Development Company (EDC) operating in the U.S. Virgin Islands,” which a prior lawsuit said it achieves through a locally-registered entity, MPE Clearing & Holdings, Inc.
The first lawsuit against Mac Private Equity was filed just over a year ago. Puerto Rico resident Alex Gibson claimed that he arranged to hand over $50,000 for a short term loan at attractive interest rates, plus profit-sharing potential. By the time the business relationship had soured to the point of Mr. Gibson's lawsuit, he claimed Mac Private Equity owed him almost $130,000, which included the principal, interest, and profit-sharing after rolling over the loan at least once.
Mr. McClafferty defended himself vigorously against the allegations, saying that it was he who terminated the business relationship with Mr. Gibson due to the latter's suspicious behavior, which triggered anti-money laundering concerns.
The lawsuit was resolved in October of that year under a consent judgement, which required Mr. McClafferty to pay Mr. Gibson $110,000, and his companies, Mac Private Equity and MPE Clearing & Holding, to pay Mr. Gibson $105,000, for a total amount of $215,000. It is not currently clear whether any of that money had been paid prior to Mac Private Equity declaring bankruptcy.