A group of at least 37 Puerto Rican
The plaintiffs sued in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico on June 30. They own more than $100 million in bonds from the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico and the Public Finance Corp.
The PFC stopped making payments on Aug. 1, 2015. The GDB defaulted on bonds on May 1 and July 1.
The suit names Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla, Puerto Rico Treasurer Juan Zaragoza G-mez, GDB President Melba Acosta Febo, Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority Executive Director Víctor Suárez Meléndez, the GDB, PFC, and FAFAA.
The plaintiffs want the court to declare Puerto Rico's Moratorium Act to be illegal and unconstitutional. Puerto Rico's government says that the act, adopted in April and amended in May, allows it to stop paying its debt obligations and to shift money from the GDB into another institution, among other things.
The plaintiffs claim that the stay on litigation that is part of PROMESA, which President Obama signed into law on June 30, doesn't apply to them because they aren't seeking a monetary award.
The plaintiffs are primarily Puerto Rican individuals. A few investment companies have joined in the suit. San Juan based law firm Totti & Rodríguez-Díaz, P.S.C. is representing the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs seek to have the court declare several sections of the Moratorium Act to be illegal and to bar the government from enforcing the act.
Puerto Rico's Department of Justice didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit, Dionisio Trigo Gonzalez et als v. Alejandro Garcia Padilla et als, is one of several against Puerto Rico concerning debt issues filed in the same court.
