Guccione says the group owes him severance of $7.5 million plus legal fees, so far.
Guccione claims that rather than reorganize his financially troubled General Media International, he allowed the Penthouse executives to acquire it and reorganize, on the promise they would let him keep his townhouse, pay him $1 million a year for 25 years and pay him $15 million if they failed to perform.
In the 37-page complaint, Guccione names defendants Charles Samel, a former employee, and Jason Galanis, a consultant, among those who defrauded him and drove his company into bankruptcy.
He also alleges that defendants Marc Bell and Daniel Staton purchased Penthouse Media Group out of bankruptcy and now refuse to pay Guccione money owed.
The suit claims that another defendant, Luis Enrique Molina Galeana, aided and abetted the alleged frauds, using the defendant corporations, Penthouse International Inc. and iBill, to do so.
After the acquisition, Guccione alleges, the group refused to pay him once they had control of the new company.
In the filing, the complaint describes the considerable debts Guccione and his companies had run up before he ceded control, including “a $50 million art loan that was in default,” and his townhouse, also in default.
Calls from XBiz to Guccione's attorney, Jamie Brickell, were not returned early Tuesday.
