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Olson to appear in court
Christine Olson's attorney challenges transfer of Nike money from joint to personal account after divorce filing
By: Lance Madden
Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: News
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Olson must appear before Pima County Superior Court Judge Sarah R. Simmons after he moved an undisclosed sum from a Charles Schwab joint account he shared with his estranged wife, Christine, to an account in his name alone, documents state. The transfer was made Dec. 7.
The Schwab account was titled "community property with right of survivorship" - meaning that if either Lute or Christine died, the other would gain sole possession of the contents - but he never told her he was making the transfer, documents state.
"At no time during these proceedings did (Lute) or his counsel inform (Christine) that this transfer of joint assets to (Lute's) name alone had occurred," Kathleen McCarthy, Christine's attorney, wrote in a court pleading.
The transfer apparently occurred because payments Lute received from Nike as part of his UA contract were being made to the Schwab account, documents state.
"I advised (Lute) to transfer the funds to an account in his name so that it would stay intact," Leonard Karp, Lute's attorney, wrote to McCarthy in an April 11 e-mail. "There have been no deposits or withdrawals to this account since then."
Olson received $500,000 from Nike in 2006-2007 as part of $714,000 in income separate from his coaching salary, according to The Associated Press. His salary is $737,790, making him one of the highest-paid state employees in Arizona.
McCarthy wrote in the court pleading that Olson's "conduct was obviously intentional, it is outrageous and his actions put him in contempt of Court."
Christine filed a court challenge Jan. 4 asking Simmons to transfer the case from divorce court to the Court of Conciliation.
When asked at his April 1 press conference if he expected to reconcile, Lute replied, "No."
On April 8, a resolution management conference was set for May 2, documents state. Neither Lute nor Christine are required to appear.
Their home in the Foothills has been up for sale for the past week, according to the Tucson Multiple Listing services. The 7,882-square foot residence has an asking price of $4.1 million.
The Olsons bought the house July 26, 2004 - more than 15 months after they were married in Las Vegas - for $1.8 million.
Lute has since moved into a new home.
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Marvin L Foushee
posted 4/23/08 @ 9:10 AM PST
To close a joint account would require the consent of both parties. An honest lawyer would have told his client that these funds cannot be removed from a joint account without being in contempt of a divorce court proceeding that was already in the works. (Continued…)
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