Dean Spanos, the majority owner of the Los Angeles Chargers, has filed a lawsuit against his sister alleging repeated breaches of trust and misconduct.
The filing escalates the ongoing battle between the four Spanos siblings over control of the NFL franchise.
Dea Spanos Berberian filed a petition in San Joaquin County Superior Court this week seeking sole control of the family trust, which owns a 36 percent stake in Chargers. The lawsuit seeks to have Dean Espanos suspended as co-trustee of the trust, and disqualifies Michael Espanos as co-trustee.
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A lawyer representing Dean and Michael Spanos was reviewing the filing before commenting on their behalf.
After the deaths of Alex and Faye Spanos in 2018, Spanos and Barbarian were released as co-trustees of the trust.
Of the remaining 64 percent owned by Charger, Spanos, Barbarian, Alexandra Spanos Ruhl and Michael Spanos each own 15 percent. The remaining four percent are not owned by family members.
Alex Espanos bought the San Diego Chargers in 1984, and Dean Espanos took over the management of the franchise in 1994.
In the filing, Barbarians repeatedly accused Michael and Dean Spanos of acting out of “deeply antisocial attitudes and feelings of entitlement as family men.” It says Dean and Michael “believe in their basic premise that whatever their parents’ motives and desires are, men should be responsible and women should be silent.”
As of Dec. 31, the debt amounted to more than $ 508 million, according to the trust’s financial statements, loan services and costs of at least $ 16 million a year. The trust’s stake in Charger is 83 percent of its holding.
Forbes has valued chargers at সাম 3.7 billion in its most recent franchise rankings. The trust’s shares could be worth about $ 1.4 billion.
The Barbarian has accused Dean and Michael Spanos of borrowing more than $ 85 million from the trust to buy an aircraft and “intentionally” damaging his relationship with the pastor of the Greek Orthodox Church.
The Barbarians filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court last March to have the court relinquish trust and party ownership for sale. The Barbarians agreed to an NFL arbitration hearing earlier this week.
The NFL declined to comment.
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