A Superior Court judge found the Minnesota Vikings owners liable for "organized crime-type activities" and ordered the owners, including Zygi Wilf, to pay $84.5 million. As the case now goes to the state attorney general for a criminal investigation, the new Vikings stadium is put on hold, Deadspin reports.
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Deanne Wilson on Monday ordered the Vikings owners - Zygi, the principal owner, and his brother Mark and cousin Leonard - to pay $84.5 million to former business partners, who Wilson ruled were cheated out of profits from a New Jersey apartment complex by the Wilfs.
In August, Wilson found the Wilfs liable for fraud and breach of contract for "(withholding) revenues and (charging) unauthorized fees and interest payments for decades," Deadspin wrote on Tuesday.
"The bad faith and evil motive were demonstrated in the testimony of Zygi Wilf himself," Wilson said, via hearing transcripts obtained by Deadspin. "... I do not believe I have seen one single financial statement that is true and accurate."
Wilson characterized the Wilfs' actions as "organized crime-type activities" and a violation of the state's RICO act. The case will now be handed to the county prosecutor and New Jersey attorney general to determine whether to pursue a criminal investigation.
News of the possible criminal investigation in to the Wilfs' finances could affect the Vikings' new stadium, which is already under construction and slated to open for the 2016 season.
The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, which was scheduled next week to sign a new lease agreement with the Wilfs, placed the deal on hold to take a closer look at the Wilfs, Fox 9 reports. While the deal isn't yet in "jeopardy" of falling through, the stadium now could face delays as the MSFA independently conducts a forensic investigation of the Wilfs' finances.
"We want to make sure we look at what else is out there to make sure we don't have further surprises," MSFA president Michele Kelm-Helgen said, via Fox 9. "... We want to make sure there are enough funds to back up the loans."
The Wilfs plan to appeal the ruling, but are still expected to have "deep enough pockets" to fund the stadium, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
