The complaint alleges that Tucker diverted payments intended for Playa of “not less than $75,000” from Protected Media LLC to himself and the other defendants.
Earlier today, Tucker had issued a statement letting clients know that he has been denied entry to his company’s communication systems and is unable to conduct business on its behalf.
“This is a sad, sad situation,” he told XBiz but added that he did not want to go into specific details regarding the matter because he wanted to avoid a public dispute.
In court papers, Playa Solutions claims that Tucker had previously deleted the name of his Playa Solutions partner, Oystein Wright, from documents to make it appear as though he had full control of the company.
Playa Solutions also accuses Tucker of shutting Wright out of the company’s computer systems to keep him from discovering the alleged diversion of funds, using company credit cards for non-business purposes and failing to account for them and blocking access to Protected Media’s copy of the Playa DRM licensing server.
The company is seeking general damages of $150,000, as well as punitive damages to be determined at trial, prejudgment interest and legal expenses.
Tucker said he has been frozen out of Playa’s computer systems for two months. He told XBiz he has forwarded information regarding the lockout to his attorney but that he has not sought any legal action.
“I have attempted to open discussions [with Playa Solutions] via email, directly and through mutual associates; however, a cure cannot be found if parties do not communicate,” said Tucker, who continues to serve as president of Falcon Foto.
Soon after news of the lawsuit hit industry message boards, Wright issued a statement reiterating that the Playa Solutions case has no bearing on his other company, Mansion Productions. "Playa Solutions is a side project I personally took interest in, but there is absolutely no link between [it] and Mansion Productions, other than that of myself," Wright said. "[My] main focus and businesses has and always will be Mansion Productions."
