Floyd Mayweather Sues Showtime, Claims $340 Million Is ‘Unaccounted For’ After Alleged Financial Fraud Scheme
Floyd Mayweather Jr. sued Showtime and Stephen Espinoza, the former president of Showtime Sports, claiming the company played a part in his former manager Al Haymon’s alleged financial fraud scheme.
“This action seeks to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in misappropriated funds and damages resulting from a long-running and elaborate scheme of financial fraud,” the lawsuit filed in a California court started off, “breaches of fiduciary duty and conspiracy orchestrated by Floyd J. Mayweather’s former manager and advisor, Al Haymon, with the knowing and substantial participation and aid of [Showtime and Stephen Espinoza], among others.”
Per the filing, which was obtained and viewed by TheWrap, the legendary professional boxer was “systematically deprived of a significant portion of his career earnings — at least $340 million (and potentially far more when accounting for lost investment growth)—through a complex web of hidden accounts, unauthorized transactions and deliberate concealment of financial record.”
Mayweather’s legal team alleged that the Paramount-owned Showtime and Espinoza played “a critical role” in facilitating the alleged misconduct, accusing that they helped divert funds intended for the boxer into Haymon’s accounts. The company vehemently denied the allegations.
The document also alleged that Showtime claimed the financial records for Mayweather’s “biggest fights were ‘lost’ or inaccessible,” after repeated accounting requests made by Mayweather’s camp.
“Showtime and Espinoza enabled Haymon’s scheme and stymied Mayweather’s effort to uncover the truth,” the lawsuit added. “As a result of this scheme, Mayweather has suffered enormous financial harm.”
The suit claimed that from Mayweather’s $1.2 billion in earnings, “at least $340 million is ‘missing’ and unaccounted for.” Additionally, Mayweather’s suit accused Showtime of still owing him $20 million for his 2015 fight with Andre Berto.
Mayweather’s suit further shared that he is looking for “the return of misappropriated funds,” as well as punitive damages.
A spokesperson for Paramount responded to the lawsuit, telling TheWrap in a statement, “These baseless claims lack legal or factual merit. We strongly reject them and will respond accordingly through the court process.”
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