I’m sure the plaintiff’s attorneys in his US case(s) will be toasting this interview for at least the next few days 
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Right?
But is he judgement proof at this point? I mean… does he actually have any assets or property to speak of? What are the implications if he decides to just remain in Belgium? Is it even a thing to be extradited for civil litigation?
It seems like maybe the FEI could suspend him and that would hamper his ability to train and operate in Belgium. But my guess is that the victims of his financial schemes in the US and Canada are going to come away with nothing in terms of $$$$ , even if they technically win a judgement in court.
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Sadly, this same thing could be said about multiple well known top tier professional riders and trainers who have well known sketchy ethical histories for a number of different reasons. Unfortunately, it’s almost become a defining characteristic of a significant % of top tier equestrians…
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Slightly unrelated, but imagine having such an incredible drug problem that you can’t stay sober from COCAINE for what, a week? It stays in your system for days, compared to weed which can be weeks.
So, EL threw away going to the OLYMPICS because of his addiction. TWICE. That is a real drug problem.
Obviously lying about cancer, even if he did originally have it and is lying about its resurgence (benefit of the doubt, but I highly doubt even that is true), is another illness/addiction by itself.
What a whirlwind. Wowza.
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Yup.
Zero impulse control.
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Good grief, man, stop talking, pay these people their money, and get on with it.
That Star article really is something.
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It matters in the way that it feels like an alternate universe, the lives that some of these top riders lead, with rich sponsors and business partners. Does that make sense? Rich people and famous people can get away with so much that normal people can not. Once in a while, there will be someone who tumbles.
It’s not a defense, of his behavior by any means. But it is a completely alien world to me.
And i do think he must be truly sick. Maybe not cancer, maybe mental illness, or maybe he truly just is a giant flaming a$$hole.
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His assets in FL, like the Palm Beach house he is alleging is his personal project going up for sale, would be accessible.
Even if inside a corporation or LLC you can pierce the corporate veil if you can demonstrate that the corporation and the person are not materially distinct. Demonstrating that a person formed a corporation in order to act in bad faith can also do it. It’s not a great idea to try to hide assets behind a corporation when the person at the other side of the table has more experience than you at getting rich and staying rich.
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Yep. You can win but collecting is a whole 'nother story. Best thing about making this more public is that it might prevent others from being scammed.
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I am old enough to remember when Lamaze was banned from showing at Spruce Meadows. That owner maintained his stand when the public wanted to forgive Eric if I recall correctly. Interesting that they left him off Hickstead indeed.
I cannot believe he is doubling down on his story. He is very sick….but not with cancer.
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Jay Duke is posting on FB quite a bit about all this. He seems to be of the opinion that multiple people assisted Eric in carrying out this fraud, and that they should face some sort of accountability.
Maybe other parties will get pulled into one or more of the lawsuits? Maybe they still have assets that can be frozen or seized.
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But how much equity does he have in those assets? Maybe the Palm Beach house is worth a million but he has a mortgage on it for $800k, owes tradespeople and construction companies $199k for the remodel so how much can the plaintiffs hope to recover on that asset? Same with his other “assets” - maybe they are high end but he has a lot of secured debt on them. Lots of people live high on the hog but don’t really have that much net worth.
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Oh, I completely agree (sadly). Off the top of my head I can think of several examples from the Safe Sport list to the horse killings for insurance.
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Unless he has given tradespeople a secured interest in the property, they’re unsecured creditors and have nothing to do with the seizure of an asset to be liquidated to pay a monetary judgement. Those with a judgement can attach leins to all sorts of things, including horses owned by the business, to satisfy those judgements.
I’m guessing he’s spent some time moving assets around but eventually it can all be uncovered.
I think his US accounts have already been frozen and horses seized? Or at least reporting from earlier in 2023 indicated this…
Yes, which is done to prevent people from liquidating and moving things and preserve the rights of the plaintiffs to any of those funds as a judgement.
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I have no words.
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Well, his legal troubles in 2022 amounted to about $200k in legal fees, and he hasn’t paid those either.
Also owes American Express about $17k.
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I do not remember the story behind that- do you? Was that because of the drugs or another reason?
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The drugs. He was banned, for his continued drug use, but it was unsuccessful, because it was overturned quickly.
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