The ownership dispute within the Los Angeles Chargers is now seeing involvement from the California Attorney General.
According to Daniel Popper of TheAthletic.com, California AG Rob Bonta filed court papers to become involved in the legal filings between Dea Spanos Berberian and her siblings over the future of the franchise. Berberian has sought to have the 36 percent stake of the team controlled by the Spanos trust sold as she claims the team is unable to fulfill its financial commitments to charitable causes due to the debt of the franchise.
Dean Spanos, Alexis Spanos Ruhl and Michael Spanos have stated they will not be selling any aspect of the team and disagree with their sister’s stance about the franchise.
They also disagree on what exactly the AG’s involvement in the dispute implies for the case at hand.
“The AG generally doesn’t do this unless it has real concerns,” Berberian’s lawyer Adams Streisand said. “The AG has the right to support our petition or to file its own petition seeking to compel the sale. It also has the right to take action against the trustees that can amount to substantial civil penalties. The AG can seek to have the trustees removed from office so that trustees can be in place who can be relied on to take appropriate action.”
A named source close to the team told Popper a different tune for the involvement.
“The California State Attorney General traditionally watches out for the interests of California-based charities in these types of cases, to make sure the interests of the charities are protected,” this source wrote in an email. “This is a well-established rule played by the State AG in similar cases.
“The State AG in this case is NOT seeking to intervene — in other words, the AG is not seeking to become a party to the case. … Instead, what the State AG is asking for is to receive notice of everything filed in this case. … The four charities involved here have all agreed/understand that the remaining monies due under the pledges will be paid once the trust settles up with the IRS.”
