The ex-wife of former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt hit a home run in court Wednesday when a judge ruled she can question a financial adviser who was working for her husband when he allegedly undervalued the team by more than $1.5 billion before their bitter divorce.
Jamie McCourt had won a $181 million settlement in her split from her husband in January, 2012 — but sued after her spouse turned around and sold the baseball team for $2.1 billion in March 2012.
She’s claiming fraud — and believes McCourt’s money man Peter Cohen of the Blackstone Group holds the key to proving it. Justice Jeffrey Oing agreed to compel his testimony Wednesday.
“What Mrs. McCourt wants to do is show that Frank McCourt is a liar, that he basically lied to her … in settling the divorce action,” Oing said, ruling that McCourt’s lawyers can question Cohen.
It is unclear what Cohen told McCourt about the value of the team and when. In a December 2012 deposition, Frank McCourt swore that prior to Jan. 17, 2012, Cohen never told him what the team was worth, though he admitted he was interested in knowing the amount.
That comment is key because of Frank McCourt testified in his divorce that all his assets, including the storied baseball franchise, were just $300 million.
But Cohen had told Forbes that when he was hired by McCourt in the spring of 2011 he knew the team was worth $2 billion.
Blackstone has fought McCourt’s subpoenas before — successfully — because New York residents cannot be compelled to testify in California under that state’s law.
But Jamie McCourt’s lawyer, Lawrence Rosenstock, prevailed Wednesday.
“This could be a crucial deposition,” he told Oing.
Oing did cap at 25 the number of questions McCourt’s lawyers can pose. Cohen must answer the questions — in writing and under oath — by April 5.
Cohen’s lawyer, Elizabeth Warnick, had argued Cohen was restricted in what he could say by a confidentiality order that was in effect in 2011 when the Dodgers were in federal court after filing for bankrukptcy.
Oing disagreed, saying the confidentiality order applied to the bankruptcy mediator, not to Blackstone.
Wednesday’s developments were just the latest in a long running battle between the couple, whose split made headlines for months and whose settlement was one of the most expensive in California’s history.
The couples’ lavish lifestyle, which included multiple homes, chartered jets, and even a hairstylist on call who earned six figures a year, were pored over by Dodger fans who felt the excesses hurt the team.
Major League Baseball at one point accused McCourt of looted the club of $180 million for personal use and other business ventures.
Today, the Dodgers are the second most valuable team in the Major Leagues, worth $1.6 billion, according to a just-released survey by Forbes Magazine.
That figure did not include a new $7 billion television deal with Time Warner Cable announced earlier this year.
