Golf Gear Tsunami Drivers
Glendale Golfs Pocklington Canada
Former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, who turned his hand to U.S. golf ventures after his Canadian business empire crumbled, is liquidating the company he once hoped to turn into a leading supplier of high-end clubs.
Mr. Pocklington, chairman and co-owner of GolfGear International Inc., made the voluntary filing in bankruptcy court earlier this month in Nevada, where the company is incorporated.
As a result of the filing, a lawsuit against Mr. Pocklington and other defendants has been temporarily placed on hold in the Superior Court of California, Orange County.
Mr. Pocklington, 65, left Edmonton seven years ago and moved to Indian Wells, Calif., near Palm Springs.
In an interview, he flatly rejected the lawsuit’s allegations of wrongdoing.
“GolfGear is basically just a shell company and there’s nothing in it,” Mr. Pocklington said from California. “Down here, the world is very, very litigious. This is crazy. I’ve been pouring money into the company for the last three years and got tired of it. I’m being blamed for taking things out. Hell, all I’ve done is put in.”
In court documents filed last month, a group of private GolfGear shareholders allege that it was mainly Mr. Pocklington, with four other men in minor roles, who “virtually destroyed GolfGear International (GGI) as a viable operating company and misappropriated for themselves essentially all of GGI’s assets.”
The plaintiffs’ complaint alleges that “defendant Pocklington concocted and implemented a scheme to strip GGI of its income-generating assets and misappropriate those assets in further violation of his fiduciary duties owing to GGI.”
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
The suit alleges that Mr. Pocklington orchestrated a transfer of patents “worth millions of dollars” to his newly created private firm, Sonartec International LLC, shifting exclusive rights to names such as the bestselling golf club at GolfGear, the Tsunami driver.
Sonartec recently acquired the assets of a seven-year-old firm called Sonartec Golf, formerly headed by entrepreneur Toru Kamatari.
“Sonartec is a great little company,” Mr. Pocklington said of the golf club specialist, whose premium fairway metals and hybrids - a cross between woods and irons - have gained acceptance among a growing number of professional golfers.
Mr. Pocklington said he has had to pay $100,000 so far in legal fees to defend himself.
“Not everything succeeds. I tried to straighten out GolfGear but found that it’s much easier, when people sue you, to start anew,” he said.
“It’s nuts. The allegations are garbage.”
GolfGear’s filing under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code is aimed at liquidation, in contrast to the better-known Chapter 11, which allows for companies to continue operating while they restructure under court protection from creditors.
An avid golfer, Mr. Pocklington said it’s easy to hit the ball farther with Tsunami drivers, knocking several strokes off golf scores.
“They look good, and they feel good,” he wrote in his promotional material.
The Canadian entrepreneur, born and raised in London, Ont., proclaimed his allegiance to his new country.
“I love the United States, and I fully intend to become a United States citizen,” he wrote.
“I like the wide-open attitude of Americans. Americans generally praise success. They admire people who get out of bed early and make it happen!”
Mr. Pocklington first invested in GolfGear in 2002 and became chairman in April of that year.
A golf industry executive named Donald Anderson founded GolfGear in 1989, designing, developing and marketing golf equipment. He resigned from the firm in 2003.
Yvette Weinstein of Las Vegas has been appointed the bankruptcy trustee in the GolfGear filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Nevada.
Among 120 creditors listed in bankruptcy court are individual U.S. investors, the Toshiba Classic golf tournament, Corporategolf.com, Executive Car Leasing Co., Verizon California, Office Depot, the Professional Golf Association Fall Expo, the PGA Merchandise Show and PGA Magazine.
California lawyer Ira Rivin originally filed a lawsuit on behalf of GolfGear investors in November, 2006, but updated it last month in a “first amended derivative complaint,” seeking an unspecified amount of damages.
The complaint filed last month is based on allegations of “breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, conversion, fraudulent transfers and violation of California business and professions code.”
The plaintiffs are investors holding GolfGear shares and/or debentures: Roger Branham, Michael Cohen, Barbara Hansen, Lyle Williamson and Nevada-based National Services Inc.
The defendants are: Mr. Pocklington, Michael Gobuty, Daniel Wright, Donald Berry, Naoya Kinoshita and four of Mr. Pocklington’s holding companies - Nevada-based Sonartec, Wyngate Ltd. of Jersey in the Channel Islands, and Bahamas-based firms Quincy Investments Corp. and Dempsey Investments Corp.
Lawyers for the defendants have said in court documents that their clients “specifically deny any malfeasance and/or breaches of fiduciary or other duties owing to GolfGear International Inc.”
Mr. Gobuty, Mr. Wright, and Mr. Berry are GolfGear directors, while Mr. Kinoshita is a former director, according to Mr. Rivin’s filing. Mr. Gobuty is a former co-owner of the now-defunct Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League.
Mr. Rivin said in an interview that his clients plan to challenge the Chapter 7 filing, questioning whether that is the appropriate route to go.
He noted that a written consent submitted in bankruptcy court by Mr. Pocklington referred to a Chapter 11 scenario, too.
Mr. Pocklington was the flamboyant owner of the Oilers for two decades, and was criticized as the man who sold Edmonton superstar Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988.
In 1998, Alberta Treasury Branches - owed $100-million - forced Mr. Pocklington to sell the NHL club to a group of Edmonton investors.
The rest of his business empire in Canada crumbled in 1999, after government-owned ATB seized other assets, including a margarine factory, a corporate jet, a $750,000 wine collection and dozens of paintings, including several Group of Seven works.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071029.RPOCKLINGTON29/TPStory/Business
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