NORRISTOWN, Pa. -- Harold Katz, the man who has agreed to purchase the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA for $12 million, has countersued his wife, alleging she made false statements in her lawsuit seeking to block the sale.
Barbara Katz, 42, of Huntingdon Valley, filed suit in Montgomery County Court Wednesday, charging her husband's agreement to buy the basketball team would hurt her divorce settlement.
The suit also asked the court to prohibit Katz from liquidating assets in order to purchase the team.
In his countersuit filed Friday in the same court, Katz, millionaire owner of a chain of weight-loss clinics, claimed Mrs. Katz's sworn statements included in her suit were false.
The countersuit charged Mrs. Katz with 'maliciously, wantonly, tortuously, deceitfully, and totally without cause and with intent to harm hRf dJ'jhBhR NN BhhJZ'erfere with the sale of the Sixers.
'In light of Harold Katz's financial condition,' the suit said, 'his acquisition of the Philadelphia 76ers could not possibly affect any right she may have in property acquired by him during their 6 -year marriage.'
Mrs. Katz filed for a divorce in April.
Katz requested $20,000 in damages to fund a legal defense of what he called his wife's 'baseless claims.' The suit also said Mrs. Katz 'knew and approved' of her husband's plan to buy the Sixers before it was made public.
Katz, 44, of Rydal, Montomery County, agreed to buy the team from F. Eugene Dixon on July 2.
