Luminus has accused its lender, Hercules Technology Growth Capital Inc. and several related entities, of reneging on a $15.1 million loan and blocking access to its bank accounts.

Unless Luminus can persuade a judge to intervene quickly and allow it to regain access to its cash, the company warned that it might have to shut down or slash its staff, said the Boston Globe.

Hercules said that Luminus’s own projections showed that its cash flow would be wholly inadequate to service its debt. Starting this month, Luminus was supposed to pay Hercules $800,000 per month over the next two years.

Hercules said it had "no real choice but to exercise its rights under the loan agreement" and was justified in seizing Luminus’s bank accounts.

The move seems to have been prompted by predictions by Luminus of significant declines in revenue. The company predicted in November 2009 that it would generate $24.8 million in revenue in 2010, 60 percent less than it predicted last May. And Luminus estimated it would lose more than $29 million in 2010, nearly double the amount it initially predicted six months earlier.

Based on the revised numbers, Hercules said it was clear that Luminus’s “ability to repay the loan declined significantly.’’