It seems 2012 will be a pretty rough year for Len Barrie.
The former Tampa Bay Lightning owner, already being sued by Las Vegas casino Bellagio over a $2 million loan, was evicted from his Victoria, B.C. house on Thursday.
More, from the Globe and Mail:
HSBC Canada, which had mortgages on the 12,500-square-foot house for more than $14-million, finally had to resort to a court order to remove Barrie from the property on Thursday. The bank was supposed to take over the house on Jan. 16 but Barrie and his family were still living there, which prompted the bank to obtain a court order evicting the former co-owner of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
“It’s one of those things,” Barrie told CHEK television in Victoria. “It’s disappointing but you move on. Now there’s some closure.
“We finally settled everything with the bank. It’s been three years and everything’s settled.”
This is the latest chapter in Barrie’s staggering fall from grace, but probably not the last. He’s still facing legal problems stemming from Bear Mountain, a failed golf/real estate development that went into bankruptcy in the fall of 2010. A criminal investigation by the RCMP’s commercial-crime unit is underway, a result of a complaint filed by former NHLer (and current Phoenix goalie coach) Sean Burke.
Burke is one of 18 current and former NHL players that lost a total of more than $13 million when Bear Mountain went under. To give you an idea of just how many NHLers were in on the deal, here’s the Globe and Mail’s list of known investors:
Mike Vernon $2-million
(plus $7.6-million loan guarantee with HSBC)
Ray Whitney $3-million
Mike Sillinger $1.4-million
Rob Blake $600,000
Sean Burke $600,000
Trevor Kidd $600,000
Scott Mellanby $600,000
Joe Nieuwendyk $600,000
Gary Roberts $600,000
Brian Savage $600,000
Ryan Smyth $600,000
Brian Carlin $600,000
Wes Walz $500,000
Jeff Finley $300,000
Todd Simpson $300,000
Matt Pettinger $150,000
Rob Niedermayer Unknown
Greg Adams Unknown
In addition to the RCMP investigation, Barrie is also facing “numerous” civil suits related to Bear Mountain.