A trial brought against Columbus businessman and former Tennessee Valley Authority board member Don DePriest got underway today in Lowndes County Chancery Court, alleging he reneged on millions in loans and other fees.
Oliver L. Phillips Jr. alleges in multiple court documents filed in Lowndes County Circuit Court that DePriest owes him more than $12 million, plus interest, stock and unpaid profits.
DePriest is countersuing, saying the lawsuits have no merit and demanding attorney fees from Phillips.
DePriest owns or has owned a number of businesses, many of them mobile phone companies and some that operated overseas. A former chairman of the Columbus Utilities Commission, he also is chairman of the venture capital firm MCT Investors and American Nonwovens Corp.
Ten years ago, according to court documents, DePriest owned more than $98 million in assets and investments.
President George W. Bush appointed DePriest, a major Republican donor, to the TVA board in 2006. He resigned the post April 9.
The business relationship between Phillips and DePriest goes back at least to March 1982, when they and an investor named Chuck Cooper formed Charisma Communications Inc. Over the years, Phillips, either alone or in groups, loaned DePriest millions and invested in other businesses.
Phillips alleges that promises to repay the loans, in cash or stock, have gone unfulfilled, and that DePriest hasn”t paid dividends or transferred ownership of promised partnership units.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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