The former owners of Charlton Athletic are being sued by an property developer who alleges he was intentionally misled when he lent them £1.8m in return for a new stadium on the Greenwich Peninsula.
LA-based property mogul Darius Khakshouri has initiated High Court proceedings against Tony Jimenez and Kevin Cash who co-owned Charlton from 2011-2013.
As well as a loss of over £1m Mr Khakshouri alleges he was "hurt at the betrayal of two individuals he considered long-standing friends".
Mr Khakshouri, who had been friends and businesses associates with the pair for several years, claims he was talked into loaning the money to help ease the club's cash flow issues during the arrangement of its sale in 2013.
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He alleges that a principal condition of the loan was the club would not be sold without a land deal in place to build a new stadium with adjoining development opportunities on the Greenwich Peninsula - and that Mr Khakshouri would share in the profits.
But when the club was bought by current owner Roland Duchatelet in January 2014, there was no alleged development deal in place.
In order to raise money from the loan Mr Khakshouri claims he reduced his stake in LA property development by 30 per cent, which he says would lose him returns of $1.76m.
Mr Khakshouri will argue that although his loan was repaid, it became apparent that there had never been any intention of securing the land deal before the club's sale.
Tony Jimenez (right), Richard Murray and Michael Slater. PICTURE BY EDMUND BOYDEN.
Ian Baker, Partner at PGB Gitlin Baker Solicitors - the firm representing Mr Khakshouri - said: "Our client sees this as a clear case of misrepresentation, as Mr Khakshouri trusted his friends Mr Jimenez and Mr Cash and lent them money in good faith and relying on their promises.
"Mr Khakshouri feels that he not only suffered the loss of over £1m from reducing his stake in a lucrative investment to provide finance for Mr Jimenez and Mr Cash’s project- but was also hurt at the betrayal of two individuals he considered long-standing friends."
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