A Durham County District Court judge has ordered Christian Laettner and Brian Davis to disclose to a California investor all financial transactions made by the former Duke basketball stars and their company, Blue Devil Partners, since May.
The investor, Leonard B. Simon, has accused Laettner and Davis of violating a court order by continuing to transfer money to themselves and entities they are involved with.
It's the latest in a series of legal maneuvers undertaken by investors trying to recoup more than $7 million from Davis and Laettner, who did not return calls seeking comment.
A California court ruled in 2009 that Laettner and Davis owed Simon $1.1 million.
The Nov. 30 judgment ordering Laettner and Davis to open their books came after Simon's attorney deposed Blue Devil Partners comptroller Jayne Baum.
During her deposition Sept. 24, Baum said Laettner and Davis had ordered her to make several money transfers and payments involving thousands of dollars.
Some involved shifting money from one corporate entity to another.
Others involved payments to Davis and Anthony Delfre, a financial consultant who Baum said was a personal financial adviser to Laettner.
Baum said Blue Devil Partners hasn't paid rent on its offices in downtown Durham since the middle of 2009. She said she hadn't been paid since April except for a few checks written to her from Blue Devil Partners accounts at the direction of Laettner.
Efforts to reach Baum on Friday were unsuccessful. Simon's Raleigh lawyer declined to comment.
Blue Devil Partners offices are in the Power House Building, which is part of the West Village development that Laettner and Davis spearheaded in downtown Durham.
West Village's mixture of apartments, restaurants and offices has been highly successful. Laettner and Davis are reportedly open to selling some, or all, of the remaining properties they own in West Village.
Simon has filed suits in Florida, North Carolina, Maryland and Washington, D.C., as part of his effort to pursue Laettner and Davis' assets and business transactions.
Last month, a federal judge ruled that NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman would receive 10 percent stakes in Laettner and Davis' projects in Durham, Baltimore and Atlanta. Merriman is owed nearly $3.8 million.
The ruling Nov. 30 in Simon's case applies to Blue Devil Partners and any other North Carolina entities in which Laettner and Davis have an ownership stake. The order allows Simon's lawyers and forensic computer experts to enter Blue Devil Partners offices and copy the hard drives of computers.
Laettner and Davis' lawyers filed a motion Dec. 2 asking that the order be amended to allow them to have their own computer expert present to ensure that only records after May 3 are copied.
News researcher Peggy Neal contributed to this report.
