Former Texas Rangers investors sue Hicks

Tom Hicks, whose ownership of English Premier League football club Liverpool ended in acrimony, is now being sued by former investors in the Texas Rangers, the baseball club he once owned. In the lawsuit filed on Monday in state court in Dallas, attorneys argued that Hicks used the Major League Baseball club to enrich himself at the team's expense. The suit was filed for the Rangers partnership under bankruptcy administrator Alan Jacobs and claims Hicks ignored financial obligations to the team and bought land for parking lots and roads to build "a real estate empire on the backs of the Texas Rangers' players and creditors and fans." The suit alleges the Rangers were left "without sufficient money to field a competitive baseball team." A spokeswoman for Hicks's company said the allegations were "absolutely untrue." The Rangers emerged from bankruptcy last year with new ownership, which is not involved in the lawsuit. Hicks and fellow American George Gillett bought Liverpool in 2007, but were forced to sell last year after the club amassed a huge amount of debt. Hicks denied that the club's financial problems were too severe to solve and called the sale to New England Sports Ventures -- owners of baseball's Boston Red Sox -- an "epic swindle". In February a High Court judge in London cleared the way for Hicks to pursue a damages claim in Britain. But Mr Justice Floyd also dismissed attempts by Hicks's lawyers to block claims by Martin Broughton, the former chairman of Liverpool, who is seeking damages against Hicks for his actions while owner.