Former Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri broke his silence on the 38 Studios LLC fiasco, saying he took responsibility for his support of the video game company but also questioning whether incumbent Gov. Lincoln Chafee could have monitored the situation better.
Carcieri in 2010 supported a $75 million loan guarantee, backed by the state's moral obligation, that the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. provided video-game company 38 Studios, owned by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.
The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in June after Schilling laid off his entire staff.
A bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Del., transferred the case to Rhode Island Superior Court after the EDC and bond trustee Bank of New York Mellon Corp. seized the company's assets. According to court documents, the company owes Rhode Island $116 million among its $151 million in liabilities.
"I'll take responsibility for having it approved on my watch," Carcieri said on WPRI television's Newsmakers program. "[But] it looks to me from the outside that there are a lot of things might have been able to be done along the way to save 300 jobs."
Schilling last month called Chafee "a dunce of epic proportions."
Chafee, who opposed the deal during his successful run for governor in 2010, defended his position.
"It's not exaggerating to say it was insanity to risk that much money in a volatile industry with someone who has never even run a lemonade stand," he told the television station.
