ROCK HILL S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Settlement approved, at least in principle. Those 2 words – “settlement approved”, certainly have a lot of time, money and energy behind them.
A Delaware based Judge on Wednesday sent the parties on the failed Carolina Panthers headquarters settlement back to work. She told them to change up some language regarding 3rd party releases.
On this Thursday, Judge Karen Owens approved the agreement in theory, saying “Congratulations, you are at the finish line. You found a workable solution with contractors and other creditors”.
Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys explaining, “the settlement was approved in principle with some drafting required pursuant to court direction, with the agreement becoming an Order of the Court upon receipt”.
The parties involved are expected to file those final papers by end of day, Thursday.
If all goes through as expected, York County would get back more than $21 million dollars of taxpayer money and the City of Rock Hill would see $20 million dollars.
Panthers owner David Tepper’s company, GT Real Estate, would pay another $60 million to settle with contractors.
None of this has any bearing on the criminal investigation currently underway. The State Law Enforcement Division opened a criminal investigation on November 7th into the transfer of public funds from York County to GT Real Estate and or its affiliates which include Panther owner David Tepper and some of his organizations.
This case is still under investigation.
