The city of Inglewood filed a motion that claims MSG Co. is "'in cahoots' with a woman it accuses of falsifying testimony" to block construction of a new Clippers' arena project, according to Bondy & Dillon of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Melanie McDade-Dickens, an employee for the city of Inglewood, "flipped parts of her sworn testimony to support MSG's claims that Inglewood fraudulently provided land" to Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer to build a new $1B arena. McDade-Dickens has been "placed on leave due to a separate ongoing fraud investigation." Court documents show among McDade-Dickens' reversals are "statements 'obviously designed to corroborate the testimony of MSG's Irving Azoff,' most crucially centering on a dispute over termination of a lease MSG held on land that would be used for Ballmer's project." Azoff is MSG Co. Exec Chair & CEO James Dolan's "long-time business partner and in charge of The Forum," which is situated less than a mile from the proposed arena site. The latest filing is "part of MSG's lawsuit against Inglewood claiming Mayor James Butts entered a secret agreement with Ballmer and tricked MSG into surrendering land" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/30).
