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Republican Politician Linked to Jack Johnson Bankruptcy
Jack Johnson is now broke as a church mouse. The NHL star has actually applied for bankruptcy. The Hill has learned that a republican politician is among the people who are causing the star to have sleepless nights.
The politician, whose name is Rob Blum has filed a case in court because he has not been paid $2 million that Johnson borrowed from him. Hell broke lose when the Columbus Blue Jackets defender parents decided to borrow huge amounts of money in his name. Since the money came with huge interests, the star was overwhelmed which pushed him to apply for bankruptcy in October.
Blum is a lowa entrepreneur. He will be sworn into the Congress early next year. The politician is not the only person that is owed money by Johnson. There are several people who are yet to recover their money from the defender. Majority of them have actually filed their complaints in court.
According to Columbus Dispatch, everything should have been fine because the player had managed to secure a $30.5 million deal back in 2011. However, due to poor money management skills by his parents, the star has found himself on the loosing end.
The documents that were obtained from Franklin County Civil Court in Ohio showed that Blum who is the founder of a software development company in Dubuque agreed to lend the player $2 million on condition that he paid back the money with 8 percent interest.
Nobody knows how the two public figures came to know each other. However, Blum’s representative acknowledged that Johnson was in trouble but declined to elaborate further on the issue.
“Obviously this is a difficult time for Jack Johnson, Jr., and out of respect for his privacy Mr. Blum will not be discussing his private financial situation as the legal process takes its course,” the representative pointed out.
The court documents stated that Johnson had intended to use the $2 million to pay for his insurance premiums that included disability policies. A portion of the money was to be pumped into Chad Breen investment company.
The profits that were made from the borrowed money were channeled to Breen where the funds were strictly limited to financial investments. Breen’s operations are somehow suspicious because he has a website that describes him as a licensed player financial adviser and he affiliates himself with NFL Players Association. The website does not state whether some of his clients include professional hockey players.
Johnson has been trying very hard to pay the money owed to Blum. The player has so far paid $494,000. As a matter of fact, 25 percent of his earnings has been committed into settling his debts. Blum has not violated any Congress law because it does not hinder its members from lending their own money to those in need. However, it does not allow the same members to lend money with clauses that are intended to exploit the borrowers.
Dispatch reported that the defender borrowed $1.56 million at 12 percent from Steve Miller. The money was meant to purchase a beach home in Manhattan for his mom and dad. The player was not able to service the loan and to make the matter worse, he proceeded by filing court cases against his creditors.