Takin' a T/O With BT: Are The Nashville Predators Going To Get The Boot(s)?

I won't lie to you—I'm probably the last guy in the world that should be talking about the legal system and how much trouble Will Del Biaggio is in. After all, I was the kid that thought 'law suit' was the style of suit people wore to court.

Even I can tell you though, that 'Boots' really stepped in it this time.

You may have heard about it on the radio, over the television, through various sources, or just good old sports talk at the bar, but word on the street is that Mr. Del Biaggio lied his way into the Nashville Predators' ownership group, and has now mysteriously vanished from the face of the Earth, along with his 27% share of the Predators.

Just so you know, that 27% makes him the second largest shareholder.

So, your trusty NHL Community Leader decided to see if he could decipher any of the events that lead up to the hottest ownership story since...well, you can choose: Either Jim Balsille trying to buy the Predators and getting undercut by a local group of Nashville investors and business partner Warren Woo (we'll get to him later), or Boots' attempt to buy the Penguins from long-time friend (and co-owner of the USHL's Omaha Lancers.

What's the reason behind Boots going missing?

Well there are currently four outstanding lawsuits on Del Biaggio, all of which accuse him of Fraud, and Falsifying Documents to Secure a Loan.

The four cases facing him are:

1) Doug Bergeron (remember this name, you'll see it later) and DGB Investments Inc. suing Boots for $3 million.

2) Boots' own father's bank—the Heritage Bank of Commerce—suing him for $4 million.

3) Modern Bank who is suing him for $10 million—the same amount which Boots' requested from the bank for his investment in the Predators

4) The Private Bank of the Peninsula is suing him for $1 million

How did this happen?

The main lawsuit that a majority of sources are keying on is the third one, because that $10 million deals directly with Boots' purchase of the Predators. It has been said however, that the same tactics have been implemented for all four cases.

However, at the Modern Bank, Boots was required to provide statements with regards to the size of his account as collateral. Boots provided false information.

How do you provide false information to a bank?

To be honest, it's not quite as elaborate as it sounds, you really only need a man on the inside.

Boots was able to acquire the account information of a client with Merriam Curham Ford that claimed he held a brokerage account of $20 million. The original owners name was removed by broker David Scott Cacchione and it was replaced with Mr. Del Biaggio's.

From then on it was just a matter of time until the bank found out.

How did the bank find out?

When Del Biaggio agreed to the loan, one of the terms of it were to supply the bank with his monthly account statements.

Once he stopped supplying them (this happened just recently), the bank decided to investigate his account. That's when they discovered this account didn't belong to Del Biaggio.

Are there any other defendants in the case?

The other defendants in the case are the Merriam Curham Ford firm, and David Cacchione—those responsible for allowing Del Biaggio to use the account.

Kristen Del Biaggio is also a defendant in the case, although amidst the turmoil she was filed for a legal separation for Boots.

Who are Warren Woo and Doug Bergeron?

Woo is a business partner of Del Biaggio's. He came to the forefront of the Nashville ownership scene last year when Nashville was fighting to keep their team. He teamed with Del Biaggio and a group of local investors, buying up shares of the Predators to keep them in Tennessee.

Doug Bergeron has a much more in-depth story.

According to various reports, including one from Bergeron himself, Doug was supposed to partner with Woo and Del Biaggio in the goal of keeping the Predators in Nashville. If you continue reading, it's been reported that Bergeron was accepted into the ownership group in November 2007.

Del Biaggio had also been very welcoming of Bergeron saying "I'm very excited to have a Canadian billionaire as part of my group. It's refreshing to have someone who respects the NHL, respects the process and the tradition of the NHL."

However, Bill Daly (NHL Deputy Commissioner) has said that "Doug Bergeron was not part (of the Predators' ownership) group, and no application has ever been made on his behalf."

To twist the plot even further, remember that Del Biaggio cheated Bergeron and his company DGB Investments Inc. out of $3 million.

Speaking of which, where is Mr. Balsille right now?

Currently Jim Balsille is in a war of words with the NHL, and it might have something to do with a meeting Jim held with Boots earlier in the month of May.

Apparently on May 22nd, Boots met with Jim and discussed selling his share of the Nashville Predators to Mr. Balsille in a San Fransisco hotel.

While Boots offered Balsille his 27% ownership share, Balsille was willing to pay a significant premium on the projected $30 million that it was worth.

Seems to me that Mr. Balsille was desperate to buy, and Mr. Del Biaggio was ready to sell. So what held up the deal?

Well apparently the NHL 'cautioned' against the deal two weeks ago when the deal was struck.

Boots Del Biaggio just declared bankruptcy. What does this mean?

Well, Boots' expenses and assests will be listed—among all of these, it's thought that there is also an unpaid expense of $10 million that Mr. Del Biaggio still owes former Predators owner Craid Leipold.

In addition, there is upwards of $57 million worth of unpaid credit card bills, business expenses, and even more loans.

The information will be more complete when it is brought before the court during his case, as the public isn't privy to all of this information.

What impact is this going to have on the Nashville Predators and the other businesses that Boots owns?

The Nashville Predators say that the part-owner's problems will have no bearing on the club currently. Predator officials have stated that they are "focused on ticket sales, building a long-term business partnership in Middle Tennessee and improving our team for the 2008-09 season".

Sidenote: It should be also noted that upon buying the Predators, Boots sold his share in the San Jose Sharks. Whether it would have been seen as a conflict of interests to own two teams or not I don't know. I'm just telling you the facts. These are things I think you should know.

As for Boots' other businesses, he's completely disappeared from them. He resigned from San Hill Capital—the company he co-founded in 1997—on May 26th, 2008, and he also left the ONCO Petroleum Board of Directors.

Luc Robitaille (who also sat on the board) left ONCO as well.

Are there any other names we should know about?

Well aside from Luc Robitaille and Mario Lemieux, whose names will probably continue to pop up due to association, Mr. Woo, Mr. Balsille, Gary Bettman and Bill Daly, anyone that has anything to do with the Nashville Predators (Yes Jason Arnott, I'm looking at you), Kristen Del Biaggio, Mr. Cacchione, the banks I've already mentioned, the city of San Fransisco, the county of Santa Clara, and Joe Montana then no there isn't.

Yes, that's right. I said Joe Montana.

Turns out he's Vice Chairman of the New York-based Modern Bank.

If anyone has any new information about Major League Baseball's steroid scandal or Tim Donaghy, we're now accepting that two windows over. You'll have to take a new number though.