Saying that Sears Holdings chairman Eddie Lampert engaged in a years-long "scheme'' to strip the company of its assets, Sears creditors are challenging his bid to buy what's left of it.

Attorneys representing the retailer's unsecured creditors filed a motion Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to pursue claims against Sears saying, "the creditors' committee has uncovered facts demonstrating that Sears's downfall . . . also was precipitated by years of misconduct by Lampert, ESL and others.''

Lampert's hedge fund, ESL Investments, won an auction for most of Sears remaining assets this week with a $5.2-billion offer. The sale, which still needs final approval by a bankruptcy judge at a hearing slated for Feb. 1, staved off potential liquidation of the company and according to Sears will preserve 45,000 jobs.

But creditors say that the deal is part of a pattern by Lampert, who they say is getting a greatly diminished company at a discounted price, further enriching himself while leaving vendors, workers and others in the lurch.

"Over the course of Lampert’s and ESL’s reign, Sears closed over 3,500 stores, cut approximately 250,000 jobs, and lost untold billions in value,'' the filing says. "In effect, Lampert and ESL managed Sears as if it were a private portfolio company that existed solely to provide the greatest returns on their investment, recklessly disregarding the damage to Sears, its employees, and its creditors."

Lampert has been a controversial figure. He has given billions of dollars to keep Sears afloat and has said that he was "fighting like hell'' to help the once iconic company survive amid a retail landscape disrupted by the rise of online shopping and fast fashion.

But Lampert has also presided over a series of complex financial transactions in which he has been both lender and borrower, or buyer and seller.

Two of those deals were among the claims mentioned in the court filing. In 2015, 235 of the most valuable Sears store properties were transferred to a new real estate investment trust, Seritage Growth Properties, for $2.7 billion. Lampert was Seritage's biggest shareholder and chairman. In 2017, Sears paid Seritage $109 million in rent, $43 million in expenses such as property taxes, insurance and utilities, and $35 million in lease termination fees, according to a public filing.

In 2014, Sears Holdings spun off retailer Lands’ End. As of last January, Lampert's ESL Investments owned roughly 67%, according to a filing, a stake worth nearly $430 million as of May 17, 2018.

The creditors said they would like to recover the value of the properties switched over to Seritage and to be relieved of obligations in relation to the Lands' End spin-off.

In a statement, ESL said its loans and other transactions involving Sears were focused on keeping the company alive while helping it to evolve.

"ESL Investments, Inc. has been a constant source of financing for Sears Holdings over the past several years, including through the extension of $2.4 billion in various secured financings to the company,'' the hedge fund said. "All transactions were done in good faith, on fair terms, beneficial to all Sears stakeholders and approved by the Sears Board of Directors . . . We reject any assertion to the contrary and will vigorously contest any effort to assert claims against ESL, its principals or affiliates concerning these transactions.”

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Some industry watchers believe Lampert's last-minute bid to buy Sears reflects a commitment to the company.

"I think Eddie Lampert genuinely believes in Sears and wants to see it succeed,'' says Neil Saunders, managing director of retail consultancy GlobalData. "There is an element of face-saving in here, too. It reflects badly on Eddie if Sears goes under. He also has an interest in making it work as he has pumped quite a lot of money into the company.''

Others say the terms of the deal ESL crafted could provide Lampert with a big pay off, including protection from the types of claims Sears' unsecured creditors are currently trying to pursue.

"Some things need to fall in place like the final bid being accepted, and (Lampert) being exempted from lawsuits,'' said Michael Dart, partner in the consumer goods and retail practice at management consulting firm A.T. Kearney. "But I'm in the camp that when the financial forensics are placed over this, we'll realize Eddie's made quite a bit of money in managing down (toward) the ultimate liquidation that will probably take place.''

The few hundred stores and other assets that Lampert's ESL would own could ultimately be worth more than what it paid, says David Wander, a partner with the law firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron.

"He may be getting assets that could be liquidated in the future that are worth as much as his bid,'' says Wander who represents two of Sears' vendors. Lampert is "not just giving money for the sake of being a nice guy. It's a shrewd business deal."

But if ESL's offer gets the final green light, the sale may be granting the once-iconic retailer only a brief reprieve, delaying the inevitable, the company's unsecured creditors say.

"Throughout these proceedings, Lampert and ESL have painted themselves as saviors, stating that their bid will save the few jobs they have not already eliminated — but for how long?'' the court filing said. "They have failed to set forth a business plan that offers any viable go-forward path. Sears simply cannot survive as a going concern."