Golden Knights' Robin Lehner accused of fraud by major creditors
Aliya Growth Fund has asked a bankruptcy court to require Lehner to pay debts of over $4 million.
According to a court filing, a creditor is accusing Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner of fraud in obtaining a debt, and has asked a bankruptcy court to require Lehner to pay his debts to the lender, The Athletic's Daniel Kaplan reported on Wednesday.
In a separate motion, American Express is alleging fraud in Lehner's outstanding credit card bills, according to Kaplan.
The 31-year-old filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in late December, listing $5.2 million in assets and $27.3 million in liabilities. Aliya Growth Fund, the creditor in question, loaned the Swede $4.75 million just six weeks before he filed for bankruptcy. Aliya's lawyers have stated that Lehner and his wife solicited significant sums of money in loans "by making materially false and misleading representations."
Aliya has outlined 24 separate loans totalling $21 million that Lehner allegedly did not disclose in his loan application, as well as almost a dozen litigation matters.
Solarcode, a company owned by Lehner's family, is being sued for $3.9 million over the alleged failure to repay a business loan. The petition notes that the goaltender owns RL Exotics, a reptile farm in Missouri for which Lehner purchased various exotic snakes from late reptile breeder Ben Renick for $1.2 million in 2017. He is also facing litigation tied to failure to make payments towards that agreement.
The Aliya loan was principally used to pay off other loans from various creditors totalling $9.6 million. Aliya claims that Lehner failed to disclose that his previous loan agreements granted access to his five-year, $25 million NHL contract as collateral.
Additionally, American Express is seeking to recover over $95,000 that the credit card company says Lehner incurred after he hired a bankruptcy attorney in December 2022. American Express claims that over $60,000 of that amount was spent at tropical fish stores in Nevada and Florida.
Lehner was the next NHL player to file for bankruptcy after Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane did so in January 2021.
The 13-year NHL veteran has missed the entirety of the 2022-23 season after undergoing hip surgery last offseason. In 364 career games, Lehner owns a 152-141-49 record, with a 2.71 goals against average and a .917 save percentage.
