Trafigura, which once supplied fuel to the V.I. Water and Power Authority, is challenging a court order that prevented the company from collecting a $31.32 million judgment against WAPA.
The underlying dispute traces to 2017, when WAPA and Trafigura reached a consent judgment requiring the authority to settle $24.5 million in unpaid fuel invoices. WAPA did not pay, and interest has since accumulated to $6.9 million on top of the original sum.
In July, Trafigura's lawyer Joseph DiRuzzo sought writs of attachment targeting dozens of WAPA's business clients: hotels, marinas, supermarkets and banks. Such writs would have forced those entities to report whether they owed future payments to WAPA, potentially allowing Trafigura to intercept those funds to cover the debt.
On October 7, Chief District Judge Robert Molloy rejected the request. He cited Virgin Islands law stating that WAPA's "property including funds" are "exempt from levy and sale by virtue of an execution." Molloy's ruling also noted that accounts receivable owed to WAPA qualify as the authority's property under both statute and a separate 2024 court order, placing them beyond Trafigura's reach.
WAPA's legal team has contended that territorial law bars courts from requiring the authority to satisfy debts it cannot afford, given its obligation to maintain uninterrupted power generation serving all residents.
On Tuesday, DiRuzzo notified the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Trafigura intends to appeal Molloy's decision, extending a legal dispute that has now lasted nine years.
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