Popejoy alleges slander, files lawsuit

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- Financial guru William J. Popejoy has filed a lawsuit

against Dave Wooten, a managing executive of the Balboa Bay Club -- this

time alleging slander.

The lawsuit was prompted by a statement made by Wooten in the June 2

edition of the Daily Pilot, accusing Popejoy of “extortion” when the

banker demanded money for his help in securing financial support for the

Bay Club. The complaint requests punitive damages from Wooten.

“It was entirely designed for a short-term public relations purpose,”

Popejoy’s attorney, Ron Rus, said of Wooten’s statement. “Over time, the

real story will emerge. Extortion is a crime.”

But Bay Club owner Beverly Ray, and Wooten’s lawyer, Chris Dubia, said

the accusation was simply a reiteration of what is outlined in their

legal complaint.

“That’s what we sued [Popejoy] for,” said Dubia, who was in New York when

he heard the news. “He was trying to extort money.”

Earlier this month, Popejoy -- the chief executive of Orange County

following the 1994 bankruptcy -- filed a $50-million lawsuit against Ray,

claiming she had backed out of a deal to let him purchase the

$73.5-million Balboa Bay Club for her own financial gain.

Almost simultaneously, Ray and Wooten filed their own lawsuit against

Popejoy, seeking a ruling that Ray performed her contractual obligations

and owes the banker nothing.

It began last October, when the two parties began secretly negotiating

the club’s sale. After five months, when the deal fell through, Popejoy

demanded a $4-million payment for his help in getting the club its

desperately needed financial backing to fund renovations.

Completing the renovation project is a condition in the Bay Club’s

50-year lease extension with the city, as is making portions of the

exclusive facility open to the public because it sits on publicly owned

tidelands.

Popejoy’s slander complaint claims his reputation was damaged when Wooten

accused him of “extortion” in a news article. According to the lawsuit,

the words were damaging because they were disseminated through the Daily

Pilot in the community in which Popejoy resides and conducts business.

However, Dubia said the lawsuit was drummed up to create more “adverse

publicity” about Wooten and Ray.

“It’s already a public record,” Dubia said. “It’s judicial privilege. You

can’t be sued for that.”