Peter Puck's in trouble!

Former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington 67 was arrested without incident Wednesday morning at his residence by special agents with the FBI.

Ex-Oilers Owner Pocklington Charged With Fraud
Jorge Barrera, Canwest News Service
Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, 67, was arrested without incident Wednesday morning at his residence by special agents with the FBI.

Armed FBI agents rousted embattled entrepreneur Peter Pocklington out of bed Wednesday morning in Palm Desert, California and arrested him on charges of fraud, a woman identifying herself as Pocklington's mother told Canwest News Service.

Pocklington, 67, former owner of the Edmonton Oilers, was arrested at his Palm Springs-area home for allegedly concealing assets during bankruptcy proceedings, U.S. authorities say.

"We were still in bed, they broke the lock and came in ... There was 10 of them," said Eileen Pocklington, 87, who had been staying at her son's home since Tuesday night.

"I heard all this banging, I think, ‘What on earth are the neighbours doing?' Bang, bang, bang ... Little did I know.

"They were asking him questions and he was answering, and they said, ‘You just get dressed and you come with us.' "

The FBI arrested Pocklington without incident at his residence, according to a release from the office of the United States Attorney, Central District of California.

"A two-count indictment returned under seal last Wednesday by a federal grand jury and unsealed today accuses Pocklington of making false statements in bankruptcy, and making false oaths and accounts in bankruptcy," the release said.

At his initial court appearance Wednesday in United States District Court in Riverside, Pocklington pleaded not guilty to the two counts, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Pocklington, who was represented by Deputy Federal Public Defender Kay Otani, will remain in custody until his detention hearing Friday.

"He had handcuffs on and arm restraints on," said Ed Moroz, who was in the courtroom when Pocklington appeared.

"He wasn't (the) smirky little Peter Pocklington he always is when he gets into a courtroom," he said.

"It's a little different story when there are two FBI agents standing behind him, and they are not letting him go."

Moroz was awarded an Alberta Court of Queen's Bench judgment in 2005 for $185,000 against Pocklington over a failed dot-com company.

Government prosecutors are expected to argue that Pocklington should be held without bond, according to the statement.

A trial has been scheduled for May 5. He has also been ordered to appear in bankruptcy court April 7.

FBI agents executed search warrants at Pocklington's residence in The Lakes, an exclusive development, as well as at two storage units he controls.

Pocklington filed for personal bankruptcy in August 2008, citing debts of approximately US$19.6-million.

In his bankruptcy petition, he said his assets totalled essentially only US$2,900, including US$300 worth of clothing and shoes.

The U.S. attorney's release said the petition "raised suspicions that he was not disclosing all of his assets to the bankruptcy court."

Pocklington is also accused, in an attempt to satisfy a judgment against him, of giving a creditor artwork, a rug and a desk that were worth about $80,000. Those items were kept in one of the storage lockers.

Eileen Pocklington said she had no idea her son was facing legal troubles.

"I just couldn't believe, never in my life would I ever believe ... He has always been fine," she said, adding Pocklington's wife, Eva, was "really shaken."

"She said he never discussed business with her and she doesn't know what she is going to do now if they take him away. She doesn't know how to cope. I said, ‘I cope on my own and you will have to, too.'"

She said her son told her when she got off the plane in California Tuesday night that he was excited about a new business deal, "another big deal, I forget what country."

Pocklington, easily one of the most polarizing figures in Canadian sports history, is still reviled in Edmonton for trading Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings for $18 million in 1988.

In 1983, Pocklinton ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party, losing to future prime minister Brian Mulroney.

A discrepancy between Pocklington's claimed assets and his liabilities in his bankruptcy filing triggered an FBI investigation into his business dealings, which found the former Oilers owner formed or was associated with a "number of offshore companies" since 2000 for "the purpose of holding his assets," an affidavit filed in support of the FBI search warrants alleged.

Two of the companies named were Quincy Investment Corp. and Dempsey Investment Corp., which were incorporated in Nassau, Bahamas. The affidavit alleged that Dempsey was created with the assets of Quincy. The affidavit alleged that Pocklington claimed Quincy was a charitable trust "set up for his grandchildren and that neither he nor his wife were beneficiaries or directors of the trust."

But the FBI turned up vehicle-lease payments and a property transaction linked to the Pocklingtons through Dempsey and Quincy, the affidavit alleged.

The affidavit also alleges that Pocklington made at least two $2,000 monthly rent payments for his Palm Desert home through an account under the name of Premier Labs, a Nevada-based company.

Albert Champagne, president of Premier Labs, said Pocklington's situation "doesn't seem what it is to be."

"It is going to work out, let it be," said Champagne before hanging up.

The affidavit also details "numerous transfers" between Pocklington, his wife and the companies.

However, an interview transcribed in the affidavit led investigators to conclude that "Eva's disavowal of any knowledge of such transaction . . . demonstrates Pocklington's control and management over assets held in the names of Quincy and Dempsey."

The affidavit states the search warrants targeted all records related to Pocklington, his wife and numerous business ventures, along with property valued over US$500 belonging to Pocklington not disclosed in his bankruptcy filing.

Pocklington's lawyer, Michael Lusby, said he was not surprised by the allegations against his client.

"I have not seen the charges. I'm kind of curious because down here, he's just another guy, but up in Canada I guess he's some kind of celebrity that warrants more attention," Lusby told Canwest News Service while driving to the courthouse for Pocklington's first appearance.

"There has been a dispute all along about assets. I suspect, and this is purely speculation, that assets that were given to his wife in a separate property jurisdiction (12 years ago) are the separate property of the wife, and some other people contend that that's not true.

"If that's what the allegations are around, the charges are not warranted."

Pocklington is no stranger to financial troubles.

At the end of 2007, Pocklington faced at least 319 separate creditors with claims exceeding US$2-million. Four claims, totalling $1 million, were for interests in intellectual property.

In August 1998, a U.S. Marshal impounded 15 pieces of Pocklington's art collection on a court order, stemming from a legal dispute between Pocklington and his former business partner in Sonartec, a golf equipment company.

In 2000, Alberta Treasury Branches dropped a $71-million lawsuit against Pocklington. The Alberta government-owned bank did not explain its decision to abandon its battle to recover $64 million in ATB loans to Pocklington's companies and another $7 million to Pocklington himself.

From a modest start with a Ford dealership in Edmonton in 1971, Pocklington started his sport dynasty with the purchase of the World Hockey Association Oilers in 1976.

The team acquired Gretzky in 1978 and joined the NHL in 1979. With Gretzky, the team would win four Stanley Cups in five years.

Despite the tide of outrage launched by the Gretzky trade, Pocklington claimed he never understood why he was so loathed in Edmonton.

"I don't understand it. What the hell did I do up there?" he told the Edmonton Journal in 2002.

"In life, the more good you do, the more crap is heaped upon you by the politics of envy. No good deed goes unpunished. Look at all the crap I went through. And all I tried to do was make Edmonton a better community.

"I have no idea where the hatred came from. But, boy, it was sure there."

Gretzky himself said recently he no longer has any hard feelings against his former boss.

"I had a great conversation with Peter two months ago and I told him that now that I'm in management, I understand why he did what he did," said Gretzky last August, now the Phoenix Coyotes' head coach and managing partner.