By Kevin McCauley
Sitrick and Company's Michael Sitrick is spokesperson for IMG Worldwide chairman Ted Forstmann, target of a lawsuit that claims he bet more than $600K from 2004-07 on NCAA basketball tournament games that were coached by clients of the big agent/sports programming shop.
The crisis PR pro told the Dec. 1 New York Times that the list of the alleged bets cited in the fraud complaint lodged by Jim Agate, head of Agate Printing, is inaccurate. He’s confident Forstmann will prevail, if the suit ever goes to trial.
Agate contends that he placed millions of dollars of bets on behalf of Forstmann. The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court also charges “breach of contract” as Agate maintains he never received business from IMG that Forstmann had promised.
IMG, according to Sitrick, is in the midst of creating a “rigorous compliance program restricting and prohibiting wagering” to avoid any issues in the future.
Forstmann says he quit betting three years ago.
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