By JAMES FINK
Business First

The British investor whose splashy efforts to buy and renovate Statler Towers ended up in bankruptcy court and with the building closed has been arrested.

Reports from England confirm that Bashar Issa was arrested on April 23 in connection with the death of a construction worker on the site of one of his projects in that Manchester. The accident took place in August 2007 and authorities have been building a case against Issa in its wake.

Issa, according to reports, was arrested in Holyhead, Wales, and charged with suspicion of gross negligence and manslaughter. Issa was released by British authorities, pending future court dates and legal action. He has pleaded innocent to the charges.

Several of Issa's personal items were seized including a laptop computer, two mobile phones and two BlackBerrys. Authorities hope the items will offer insight into Issa's financial information,

He still faces contempt-of-court charges in Buffalo for failing to appear in legal action brought against him and his company by Park Lane Catering, which was a Statler anchor tenant. Issa has not been in Buffalo since early 2008.

He bought Statler Towers in 2006 with much fanfare surrounding his $100 million renovation of the Buffalo landmark.

Only a fraction of the proposed work was ever completed.

Issa's local company, BSC Buffalo LLC, was placed into involuntary Chapter 11 protection in April 2009 and the 18-story Statler was auctioned off last summer, only to see the deal fall apart.

The building was closed in January.

An auction, held Saturday, of the building's non-real estate assets netted approximately $50,000, according to auctioneer Cash Cunningham.

"It was a very successful sale," Cunningham said. "Everything went."