UFC light heavyweight title contender Chael Sonnen is suing the co-owner of his West Linn, Oregon business partner for embezzlement, according to a report by The Oregonian.
An excerpt from the online version of the article gives a good summary of what the lawsuit is alleging:
“The lawsuit filed earlier this month in Clackamas County Circuit Court also seeks to oust Lee Gamble, who co-owns Mean Street Pizza with the Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter, from the limited liability corporation the pair run. West Linn Guys, LLC owns the restaurant, which opened last year … Gamble also never paid Sonnen back after borrowing $10,000, the suit alleges, and owes him $12,600 after failing to pay rent for the past seven months for the West Linn home Sonnen owns and rents to Gamble.”
The report also states that “The American Gangster” is looking to recoup $20,000 in embezzled money and $22,600 in borrowed money and unpaid rent.
He also plans to charge a nine percent interest rate per year until he is paid back in full.
Gamble has not responded to calls from The Oregonian about the lawsuit, and the new manager, Dustin Rockstrom, informed the publication he had taken over Gamble’s job roughly a month ago.
Arguably the most interesting part of this whole lawsuit is the fact that the former two-time UFC middleweight title challenger pleaded guilty to money laundering in connection to mortgage fraud in Jan. 2011.
As a result, Sonnen was fined $10,000, lost his Realtor’s license and was sentenced to two years probation.
Sonnen is currently coaching season 17 of “The Ultimate Fighter” opposite 205-pound champ Jon Jones, and the two will meet in a title fight at UFC 159 in April, Sonnen‘s first fight at light heavyweight since 2005.
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