LOS ANGELES -- More than 50 creditors of the Los Angeles Express franchise of the defunct U.S. Football League Wednesday filed suit against the USFL for $25 million in damages for allegedly diverting funds owed to them.
The Superior Court lawsuit also names as defendants USFL Commissioner Harry Usher and the owners of the defunct league's eight teams.
'On or about September 1985, Usher began transferring funds from the sale of the Los Angeles Express, instead of satisfying the Los Angeles Express' creditors claims,' alleged the suit, filed by attorney James Davis.
'Usher's acts of transferring moneys from the sale of players contracts to the USFL ... was done for the purpose of furthering (the USFL's) case against the National Football League and other private purposes,' the suit alleged.
The suit charged all the defendants met in Los Angeles and 'conspired ... to divert funds' instead of paying the creditors.
'The defendants, for the purpose of presenting the appropriate image for the suit (against the NFL), diverted funds from the creditors who had been assigned payment, to the pending lawsuit.'
The suit charged the defendants with deceit, fraud, intentional, infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract, fraudulent conveyance, conspiracy and conversion.
It seeks $25 million in punitive damages plus unspecified compensatory damages and a lien on property conveyed to the USFL.
