D.C. sues Commanders for alleged ticket scheme

ASHBURN, Va. -- The District of Columbia's lawyer wide connected Thursday filed a 2nd suit against the Washington Commanders, alleging that the squad has cheated its residents retired of "hundreds of thousands of dollars" successful unreturned information deposits for season-ticket holders.

D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine said successful a connection that Commanders executives engaged successful "egregious mismanagement and amerciable conduct."

The latest suit alleges the squad has held onto imaginable refunds to season-ticket holders whose contracts with the squad had expired. It claims the squad inactive holds "nearly $200,000 successful unreturned information deposits" paid by D.C. residents.

The suit alleges that the Commanders person engaged successful -- and proceed to prosecute successful -- misleading concern practices erstwhile it comes to information deposits, making them pugnacious to receive. It said their acts were successful usurpation of the District's Consumer Protection Procedures Act.

According to a connection from a Commanders spokesperson, the franchise has not accepted information deposits connected premium tickets for much than 20 years, nor person they taken deposits for suites successful "over a decade."

The squad said it began returning deposits successful 2004. Ten years later, the spokesperson said that management, arsenic portion of a broad review, was instructed to nonstop notices to much than 1,400 customers who held deposits. Team absorption was instructed to instrumentality each information deposits requested.

The suit alleges that Washington lone sent retired those letters to debar violating a Virginia instrumentality regarding withheld property.

"The squad engaged an extracurricular instrumentality steadfast and forensic auditors to behaviour an extended reappraisal of the team's accounts which recovered nary grounds that the squad intentionally withheld information deposits that should person been returned to customers oregon that the squad improperly converted immoderate unclaimed deposits to revenue," the Commanders' connection connected Thursday said.

Racine's bureau is not the lone 1 looking into fiscal improprieties by the Commanders. The Virginia Attorney General's bureau announced successful the outpouring that it had opened an probe aft the House Oversight Committee had sent a missive to the Federal Trade Commission pursuing allegations of fiscal improprieties by a erstwhile Washington employee. The squad powerfully refuted the charges.

Also, connected Nov. 2, ESPN reported that the U.S. attorney's bureau successful the Eastern District of Virginia has opened a transgression investigation into allegations that the Commanders engaged successful fiscal improprieties.

In a separate suit filed by Racine past week, the Commanders, proprietor Dan Snyder, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell were alleged to person colluded to "deceive District residents astir an probe into toxic workplace civilization and allegations of intersexual assault."

Meanwhile, the oversight committee inactive has not released the findings of its yearlong probe into Snyder and the team's workplace culture. Though Republicans volition summation power of the House connected Jan. 3, Democrats tin inactive probe the concern until that time.

Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, who volition go the ranking Republican subordinate connected the committee, said they will not proceed the investigation into the team's workplace civilization erstwhile successful power.

"It's over," Comer said successful a connection Wednesday.

Attorney Mary Jo White's probe into the squad connected behalf of the NFL remains ongoing.