Chapter 7 Opens Up Life of Prominent Pennsylvania Exec

A high-profile Chapter 7 bankruptcy case is shocking many residents of the Electric City.

The Scranton Times Tribune takes a look at the dealings, debts and lifestyle of Brian J. Murray, a man the paper calls “one of Scranton’s most prominent civic leaders, downtown developers and political power brokers.”

Fueled by the success of his insurance company, Murray became a major figure in the Pennsylvania city, owning millions of dollars in downtown property, fine art and co-owning several businesses.

But an investigation into his handling of an employee charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands in insurance premiums and forging documents, helped trigger a string of lawsuits that culminated with his recent Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing.

That filing has opened up his financial dealings to the city, and reveals that while he owned more than $6 million in assets he was more than $8 million in debt.

His debt range from $740,000 in loans to his old business, and $200 owed on his cable TV bill.

While the Chapter 7 case has thrust Murray further into the spotlight, the Times Tribune reports he has laid low, leaving his $400,000 home in Scranton for one outside the city valued at a mere $200,000.

Murray, the paper reports, is hoping to use Chapter 7 exemptions to protect the less expensive of his two homes.

And while he had taken little in base salary from his insurance company, he still owns a good deal in retirement accounts and investments. But the future of those is still up in the air as this case has only just begun.

Scranton Times Tribune