Noted Trial Attorney Willie E. Gary, Former Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield Face Claims of Defrauding Family Values TV Network

Noted Trial Attorney Willie E. Gary, Former Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield Face Claims of Defrauding Family Values TV Network

Lawsuit Seeks Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Damages, Claims Gary and Other Members of His Company Violated Fiduciary Duties to Promising Network

DALLAS, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- A lawsuit filed today claims that personal injury attorney Willie E. Gary and former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield breached fiduciary duties owed by them to the MBC Gospel Network and to plaintiffs James & Jackson LLC. The suit claims that the two conspired with other members of Gary's investment group to improperly eliminate the founders of MBC, a.k.a. the "Black Family Channel," and then committed a series of acts that were designed to enrich themselves at the expense of the network.

The lawsuit claims that Gary and his group conspired to drive The Black Family Channel's founders out of the network without paying fair value for their interest. To execute their scheme, Gary and his partners allegedly formed a sham company that they controlled and then voted to have The Black Family Channel merge with it -- for the sole purpose of removing The Black Family Channel's founders from the network by acquiring their ownership interests. The suit claims the scheme, developed surreptitiously, was revealed to The Black Family Channel's founders only a short time before the deal was accomplished.

Filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County, State of Georgia, by James & Jackson LLC ("J&J") and derivatively on behalf of MBC Gospel Network / The Black Family Channel, the suit seeks to rescind the merger and to force defendants to pay to plaintiffs hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

J&J claims that Gary purchased a majority stake in The Black Family Channel from J&J, a management group that included television and entertainment executives led by broadcast veteran Alvin D. James and Marlon Jackson of the famed Jackson Five, along with Matthew Harden, a businessman and former CFO of the network, and Gregory Thorpe, an attorney and former general counsel for the network. Gary, Holyfield and his partners allegedly acquired shares of the network, based on their promises to fund the continued expansion of the award-winning television venture. However, after acquiring a larger stake in the network, defendants began to use the network for their own selfish gains -- while surreptitiously taking steps to force J&J from the network that was its visionary creation, according to the suit.

"Our clients believe that Willie Gary and other defendants defrauded this television network and the J&J group -- its greatest ambassadors," says William A. Brewer III, partner at Bickel & Brewer and lead counsel for J&J. "On multiple occasions, Gary used this television network to enrich himself and his partners at the expense of J&J and The Black Family Channel in general."

The Black Family Channel had been poised to become one of the great success stories in African-American broadcast history. Created in 1998, The Black Family Channel targets the African-American and urban audience. The network is broadcast in all 50 states to more than 17 million viewers, and had garnered more than 25 prestigious awards.

"Our clients intend to hold defendants accountable for the pattern of self-dealing and professional misconduct that robbed from them the reward for the network they created," Brewer says. "We believe our clients have suffered monetary damages and -- as victims of a scheme to force them from the network they founded -- they may never be able to realize the true commercial and financial success of their television network creation."

About James & Jackson LLC

James & Jackson LLC ("J&J") is the founding member of The Black Family Channel television network. Created in 1998, J&J was formed by various entertainment, broadcasting and business professionals to facilitate their collective vision and experience for the purpose of promoting family values in cable television programming.

About Bickel & Brewer

Founded in 1984, Bickel & Brewer has earned a reputation as among the most aggressive and successful law firms in the United States practicing exclusively in the field of complex commercial litigation and dispute resolution. With offices in Dallas and New York, Bickel & Brewer represents a wide spectrum of industry leaders -- from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 corporations -- facing the most challenging of legal issues. Visit Bickel & Brewer at http://www.bickelbrewer.com/ .

Source: Bickel & Brewer

CONTACT: Travis Carter of Carter Public Relations, +1-214-360-7815, or
tcarter@carterpr.net , for Bickel & Brewer

Web site: http://www.bickelbrewer.com/

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