Pocklington arrested in California

BRENT JANG

Globe and Mail Update

March 11, 2009 at 4:22 PM EDT

Former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington has been arrested on bankruptcy fraud charges in California, U.S. court filings show.

Mr. Pocklington will be formally charged Wednesday afternoon with filing false bankruptcy declarations, as well as making false oaths and accounts in bankruptcy.

He faces up to 10 years in a federal prison, U.S. Attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek said in an interview.

FBI agents took Mr. Pocklington, 67, into custody after executing search warrants at his residence in the Palm Springs region.
Peter Pocklington
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He filed for personal bankruptcy in California last August, just two days after a raid on his previous residence, initiated by a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit. His net worth is listed in his bankruptcy filing at $2,900 (U.S.) and personal liabilities at $19.7-million.

In his declaration, he submitted that his net worth included $200 in his wallet, a $500 watch, a $500 set of golf clubs, $300 of clothing and shoes, $450 in appliances and furnishings, $450 worth of personal goods seized and $500 worth of memorabilia, trophies and art.

Mr. Mrozek said the discrepancy between the assets and liabilities listed raised concerns that Mr. Pocklington wasn't disclosing all of his assets.

“Court documents also allege that Pocklington, in an effort to partially satisfy a court judgment against him, gave a creditor a piece of art, a rug and a desk that were collectively worth approximately $80,000 and were located in one of his storage lockers,” according to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney's office.

Mr. Pocklington and his wife, Eva, vacated their exclusive Vintage Club condo in Indian Wells, Calif., last fall. They decided instead to rent half of a bungalow duplex at a golf development, the Lakes Country Club, in nearby Palm Desert.

“The indictment alleges that Pocklington failed to disclose to the bankruptcy court two bank accounts at Palm Desert National Bank [PDNB] for which he has sole signature authority, as well as the contents of the two storage units in Palm Desert. In the seven months immediately preceding a September 2008 hearing in his bankruptcy case, Pocklington allegedly wrote a series of checks on a PDNB account in the name of ‘Dempsey Investment Corp.,' an entity that he failed to mention in the bankruptcy petition,” the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Court filings in a civil case show that a bankruptcy trustee is seeking to recover money from Mr. Pocklington and potentially seize whatever is still in his possession, notably five Stanley Cup rings.

Born in London, Ont., he gained national prominence when he signed Wayne Gretzky, then 17 years old, to the Edmonton Oilers in 1978. The Oilers, in the World Hockey Association at the time, joined the National Hockey League one year later.

But Edmontonians were angered in 1988, when Mr. Pocklington sold Mr. Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings.

Government-owned Alberta Treasury Branches forced Mr. Pocklington to sell the Oilers in 1998, and the rest of his business empire later crumbled.

The Pocklingtons settled year-round in California in 2002.