The spouse of Orioles proprietor Peter Angelos claims in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday that their youthful son, Louis Angelos, has bought his father’s legislation agency, which over the many years has received billions of {dollars} for victims of asbestos and tobacco, for a value to be decided later.
The purchaser: Louis Angelos himself.
Georgia Okay. Angelos’ declare, in Baltimore County Circuit Court, comes two months after she and her older son, John, 55, the O’s chairman and CEO, had been sued by Louis Angelos, 53, over management of the baseball, authorized and actual property empire constructed by the now-ailing household patriarch.
Peter Angelos, 93, has been incapacitated for a number of years, and his spouse’s authorized motion intensifies the household feud revealed of their son’s lawsuit. That swimsuit, which additionally confirmed that the household is contemplating promoting the Orioles, portrayed John as plotting to consolidate his energy over his father’s belongings, significantly the group, and intimidating their mom into acquiescence.
But Georgia Angelos, 80, struck again on Tuesday, saying it’s Louis Angelos whose conduct has been so “nefarious” that it constitutes “elder abuse” of his father.
“It is Lou who surreptitiously seeks to abscond with Peter’s legacy,” her swimsuit stated. “The only small blessing is that Peter lacks the capacity to comprehend this betrayal.”
Georgia Angelos is searching for to have Louis Angelos eliminated as a co-agent below Peter Angelos’ energy of legal professional phrases and to invalidate the purported sale of the legislation agency.
In her swimsuit, Georgia Angelos petitions for damages in opposition to her son below the state’s Statute Against Financial Exploitation, or SAFE Act, which the General Assembly handed final 12 months.
“It is difficult to conceive of a more flagrant act of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult than that which was perpetrated by Lou against his own father,” the swimsuit states.
Tuesday’s submitting lifts the curtain additional on the behind-the-scenes battle revealed by Louis Angelos’ lawsuit, which put considered one of Maryland’s most outstanding, but personal, households in a harsh highlight.
Among the allegations in Georgia Angelos’ swimsuit are that her husband stated he didn’t need his legislation agency to survive him, and he additionally believed the Orioles needs to be bought after his loss of life. Peter Angelos had stopped going to the workplace in the summertime of 2018, and Louis Angelos had been managing the follow, though — as with the opposite attorneys who work on the agency — he was not made a companion.
“The firm had been built as an asbestos powerhouse that specialized in asbestos litigation, and Peter was well aware that asbestos litigation was in its dying stage,” in keeping with Georgia Angelos’ swimsuit. “It could only live off those cases for so long.”
He additionally felt the group “should be sold on his death so Georgia could enjoy the great wealth they had amassed together,” his spouse’s submitting stated. But, the court docket doc continued, he additionally believed any sale of the group needs to be his spouse’s determination to make.
Additionally, her swimsuit seeks to close down a rumor that has circulated on the town and that Louis Angelos floated in his lawsuit — that his brother sought full management of the Orioles to probably transfer the group to Tennessee, the place he has a house in Nashville and his spouse is within the music enterprise.
“In a transparent effort to turn public opinion against John, Lou planted a false story in the press that John plans to move the team to Nashville,” the swimsuit stated. “John has no intention whatsoever of moving the Baltimore Orioles to Nashville.”
The swimsuit repeated earlier statements by John Angelos, who’s the Orioles chairman and CEO, that the group will stay in Baltimore “as long as Fort McHenry is standing watch over the Inner Harbor.”
The swimsuit was filed by Georgia Angelos’ authorized group, which incorporates Adam F. Streisand, a Los Angeles based-attorney who has litigated instances involving the estates of celebrities together with Michael Jackson, and represented events in disputes over management of professional groups such because the Lakers, Clippers and Chargers.
“Lou is sadly not capable of the shame he should feel for falsely and maliciously smearing his mother at such a difficult time in her life,” Streisand stated in a press release to The Baltimore Sun. “Even still, Georgia didn’t want to have to tell the world the truth about Lou … But he gave her no choice. So now it’s time for the truth to come out.”
Georgia Angelos, who has beforehand launched a press release by means of the Orioles standing by John Angelos, depicted him within the filings as a profitable group proprietor. The swimsuit notes how the group’s rebuilding course of has begun to reap rewards, significantly with a farm system that’s ranked first within the majors.
“In short, the team is now running like a well-oiled machine, and it is situated to move on a sale when the time is right,” in keeping with her swimsuit.
The swimsuit stated Louis Angelos’ has resisted winding down the legislation agency’s operations. He had refused to share particulars of its funds, the submitting stated, and when John Angelos lastly obtained some data in August 2020, he realized it had not paid hire in 11 months. Additionally, the paperwork say, the agency’s income largely got here from annuities arrange after earlier asbestos victories, “which would eventually run out.”
With Georgia Angelos working to promote the agency with the assistance of a household buddy, Kenneth Feinberg, recognized for administering the greater than $7 billion fund for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist assaults, the petition stated “time was running out for Lou, and he had to make a move.”
That, in keeping with the swimsuit, was to promote the agency to himself.
On June 8, the day earlier than he filed his swimsuit, Louis Angelos despatched a letter by means of his lawyer to his mom saying that as his father’s agent, he had transferred the agency’s excellent inventory to himself. He connected paperwork that included Peter Angelos’ resignation from the legislation agency, which he signed as his father’s agent, and a purchase order settlement that he additionally signed on his father’s behalf, promoting the agency to himself in alternate for a promissory be aware.
Georgia Angelos’ swimsuit stated that “of course” Louis Angelos can not act as his father’s agent as a result of Peter Angelos transferred his energy of legal professional to his spouse. Their sons are successor co-agents who would take over provided that Georgia Angelos can not fulfill her duties.
“The transaction was not a sale at all; it was a theft, pure and simple,” her petition acknowledged.
“How much did Lou pay for the Law Firm?” the submitting requested rhetorically. “Absolutely nothing.”
According to 1 attachment, the acquisition value could be established later by an appraiser from the legislation agency’s common accounting agency, or one chosen by it. In different phrases, somebody both paid by Louis Angelos or chosen by the accounting agency paid by him, Georgia Angelos’ swimsuit stated. The cost was given a due date of June 8, 2037, “meaning it is unlikely Georgia or Peter will ever see a dime of money from Lou.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com