WARREN, Ohio – The lender seeking foreclosure on the former Copperweld Steel Corp. site along Mahoning Avenue said all parties have consented to a settlement, clearing the path for a potential sale of the property, according to court documents.
Optima Acquisitions LLC on April 9 filed a motion asking a Trumbull County Common Pleas court to consider a consent judgment entry and decree in foreclosure against Warren Steel Holdings LLC, the current owner of the mill’s assets.
“All necessary parties have been served and/or have appeared,” the motion says. The defendants in the case – Warren Steel, Trumbull County treasurer, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Motion Industries Inc. – have consented to the judgment proposal, court papers say.
The consensus eliminates “the need for further litigation on the foreclosure claims,” the filing says. Moreover, court approval of the proposed judgment would “allow the property to proceed to sale without unnecessary delay,” the motion says.
Optima, based in Miami, filed the foreclosure complaint June 27, 2025, against Warren Steel, the troubled steel producer that acquired the former Copperweld Steel – then known as CSC Ltd. – out of bankruptcy in 2001. According to the complaint, Optima said it tendered a $15 million loan to Warren Steel in 2014 as the steel mill prepared to resume operations. Warren Steel pledged the 360-acre site and its buildings as collateral.
The note remains unpaid, and Optima said it holds a separate, subordinate mortgage lien against the property totaling an additional $88.2 million, according to the most recent court documents.
Judge Sarah Thomas Kovoor on Feb. 5 granted an entry of default in the foreclosure action, according to documents filed with the court.
A default judgment is often issued because none of the defendants responded to the complaint in a timely manner after being duly served. Attorneys representing Optima filed a motion seeking default Dec. 22, 2025, and a telephone hearing on the matter was held Feb. 4.
The court must still approve the proposed consent judgment. A status conference on the matter scheduled for Wednesday has been canceled. If approved, the property and assets would be sold at auction through a sheriff’s sale.
In case of a sale, the Trumbull County treasurer holds a first-priority lien for real estate taxes, assessments, penalties and interest under Ohio law.
The land and buildings span both Champion and Warren Townships. According to records from the Trumbull County Auditor’s Office, Warren Steel owes $46,500 in back property taxes on the Warren Township parcel and another $49,812 on the Champion Township property. Together, the auditor’s office appraises the land and buildings at $1.6 million.
The motion states that proceeds from any sale after payment to the treasurer would go to satisfy Optima’s $15 million first position lien, while the $88.2 million mortgage would be considered second. A third lien held by Motion Industries Inc. would also be recognized, and an undetermined amount would be paid from any sale of the property.
Environmental Issues
Further, any sale is subject to restrictions and obligations through an environmental covenant with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. According to court papers, the covenant imposes terms such as providing property access to regulators, prohibiting residential development and mandating further environmental remediation at the site. The court issued a consent order in 2022 to enforce the measure and last year approved a motion filed by the Ohio EPA to intervene in the case.
The state of Ohio in 2016 sued Warren Steel over these environmental issues and eventually won a $1.1 million judgment. A settlement was ultimately reached between Warren Steel and the state.
Under the settlement, Warren Steel was to pay a total of $1,122,852.57 in civil penalties. Of that amount, $472,852 would be paid to the state’s Environmental Protection Remediation Fund, while $150,000.57 is to be paid to Ohio’s Water Pollution Control Administration Fund.
The balance of the penalty – $500,000 – was to be paid to an interest-bearing Supplemental Environmental Project fund, administered by the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments.
International Intrigue
Matters in the case became more complicated when it was revealed that Warren Steel was named in a complex money-laundering scheme that originated from Ukrainian oligarchs who held ownership interest in the company.
Federal prosecutors said Igor Kolomoisky – a former owner and director of Ukraine-based PrivatBank – and his associates misappropriated funds from the institution and then laundered them through shell companies overseas before sending them to the United States.
Some of this money was used to acquire assets in the U.S., including real estate in Cleveland, Texas and Kentucky and businesses such as Warren Steel, authorities say. These assets, in turn, served as collateral to secure additional loans for the Ukrainian businessmen, prosecutors said.
According to a May 2019 civil suit filed by PrivatBank in the Court of Chancery in Delaware, Kolomoisky and his associates funneled $622.8 million in fraudulently obtained loans into their U.S. interests. Court documents say about $9 million went to Warren Steel between 2010 and 2013.