Stonepath Group Inc. asked a bankruptcy judge to throw out an involuntary chapter 7 case filed against the Seattle logistics firm by a group of creditors, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. In papers filed Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., Stonepath asked Judge Christopher S. Sontchi to dismiss the bankruptcy case filed against the company earlier this month by three trade creditors. Stonepath said that the bankruptcy filing was made in bad faith because the companies aren’t creditors of Stonepath. Stonepath wants the bankruptcy judge to order the creditors to pay its legal fees as well as any damages it suffered as a result of the bankruptcy filing. The creditors - Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based staffing firm Spherion Inc. and two Minnesota shipping companies - claim Stonepath owes them $1.1 million.

The number of new bankruptcies in Singapore fell for the third month in a row, falling 4 percent in April from a year ago, Reuters reported today. April’s bankruptcy orders — including those filed by companies and individuals — fell to 216 from 225 a year ago, according to the Singaporean Ministry of Law. The total number of undischarged bankrupts as of April 30 was 25,074, the ministry said. Singapore’s trade-driven economy grew at a faster-than-expected annualized rate of 7.6 percent in the first quarter, thanks to booming construction and a strong services sector, prompting the government to raise its 2007 gross domestic product growth forecast to 5-7 percent from 4.5-6.5 percent.

American Express Co. plans to announce today what is believed to be the first program designed to allow consumers to put their monthly mortgage payments on plastic — and to earn credit card rewards for doing so, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Mortgage bills have been off limits to cardholders to collect points, largely because home lenders find it costly to pay card companies for processing the transactions. American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. and IndyMac Bancorp Inc., both among the nation’s top 10 residential-mortgage originators, are the first two lenders to sign up for the program, with the idea of appealing to American Express’s affluent clientele.

Rumford Energy, the Concord, N.H.-based heating fuel company that suddenly closed last month, has filed for bankruptcy, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The company says it believes it owes money to 1,000-1,500 creditors and listed assets of up to $1 million with liabilities of up to $100 million. Since the company closed abruptly last month, more than 400 customers have filed complaints saying they paid in advance for heating fuel, then didn’t receive the fuel, or their money back.

Pacific Lumber Co.’s bondholders have objected to the company’s request to retain exclusive control over its chapter 11 case for another four months, Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday. The bondholders’ objections come on the heels of a group of California state agencies also attempting to block Pacific Lumber’s exclusivity bid, arguing that the bankrupt timber company’s requests are not supported by any evidence. Despite objecting to another four months, the bondholder group did throw its support behind an additional 30 days for Pacific Lumber to try to work its reorganization plan details. The Pacific Lumber Co. and its subsidiary debtors’ cases are being jointly administered, under case number 07-20027, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Late last century, Springfield, Mass., experienced a social and financial downturn as mills closed, jobs disappeared, crime rose and residents left, but is now beginning to experience a turnaround, the New York Times reported today. By 2004, with the city facing bankruptcy proceedings, the state stepped in, appointing an outside finance board to help get Springfield’s books in order. Residents, developers, brokers, financial analysts and urban planners now say that the city’s long decline may finally be starting to turn around. In the fiscal year that ended in June 2005, for the first time since the early 1990s, the city’s budget ($470 million) was balanced and even yielded a surplus ($6.8 million). Springfield’s tax base is also set to expand, led by major commercial development, with most of it financed privately. “Four years ago, this city had zero money,” said Mayor Charles V. Ryan. “Now we’ve got money in the bank, and we’re rebuilding infrastructure that’s sorely needed.”