Like a zombie, the Texas Rangers' bankruptcy case refuses to go away.
More than two years after the baseball team was sold for $593 million in a Fort Worth courtroom, lawyers for the ballclub's bankruptcy plan administrator and creditors are still battling with the team's former owner, Dallas financier Tom Hicks, over money.In one case, the administrator claims that Hicks had the ballclub pay millions for Arlington land and parking lot improvements but that another Hicks company is getting nearly all the profits. The lots, conveniently close to both Rangers Ballpark and Cowboys Stadium, generate millions in annual parking revenue and could be worth $51 million to $75 million.The plan would like a fat settlement.Another issue is nearly $40 million in deferred compensation payments that Hicks never made to former Rangers players. The new owners had to pay up money that could have gone to creditors.Banks are also trying to stop Hicks from recovering money that he says he loaned to the ballclub.A Hicks spokeswoman, Lisa LeMaster, did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. But last year, she told Bloomberg News: "The [parking lot] lawsuit reflects a bizarre flip-flop on the part of the complainants, a group led by a distressed debt hedge fund. We welcome the opportunity to challenge these allegations in court."In a court filing, Hicks responded to assorted allegations by denying that he squirreled away tens of millions.In some instances, he has paid what was owed, and in others he says claims are barred by the statute of limitations.The parking lot dispute is set for a Dec. 3 trial in the 116th District Court in Dallas.The plaintiff, the team's bankruptcy administrator, minces no words, claiming that Hicks' "self-dealing and pattern of fraudulent asset transfers [were] calculated to enrich himself" at the expense of the Rangers.In a revised outline of the case filed Wednesday, administrator Alan M. Jacobs said the ballclub spent $10 million to $15 million on roads and parking lots that directly benefited Hicks and his Ballpark Real Estate company "at the expense of the Texas Rangers."The company got the parking revenue, and the team paid the operating costs of the Hicks entity, Jacobs alleged.Although the team picked up much of the land cost, Jacobs said, it was never given title, depriving the new owners of an increasingly valuable asset.The suit also alleges that from 2003 through 2007, the team failed to provide deferred payments to players, in breach of its collective bargaining agreement.Somehow, it says, the players association found out in 2008 and demanded that the amount be supplied.The obligations had grown to $39.5 million by the time of the bankruptcy sale, forcing the new owners to fork over nearly $40 million that otherwise could have gone to creditors.Now they want to collect.Meanwhile, the team's first-lien holders -- banks and investors who get paid first -- have gone to federal court in Fort Worth to keep Hicks from getting any of the $5.6 million he claims to have loaned the ballclub over the years from an "overdraft line of credit" he created.On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John McBryde issued an order that partially strips Hicks and his Dallas lawyer, Glenn West of Weil, Gotshal and Manges, of their right to avoid answering certain questions by invoking attorney-client privilege during depositions by attorneys for JPMorgan Chase, the leader of the first-lien holders.An attorney familiar with the case, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said that the issue apparently stems from team computers inherited by the new ownership that stored e-mail exchanges between Hicks and West that might prove relevant to the case.In another case, Hicks settled out of court in September with Don Carter, the former Mavericks owner, who had invested in a partnership that had invested in Ballpark Real Estate.In December 2011, Carter said Hicks didn't inform him that he directly loaned the company $31 million at an above-market interest rate, which ended up costing $4 million.Hicks also failed to provide Carter with financial statements and ignored his partners' requests to wind up the company's affairs in 2011 as promised, the suit said.Barry Shlachter, 817-390-7718Twitter: @bshlachterHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
