28 Jun COURT RULES TIGER KING TO BE DECLAWED IN BIG CAT FIGHT – LOSES ZOO
Joe Exotic, the so-called “Tiger-King” in the Netflix hit docuseries during the pandemic who was found guilty of paying a hitman to kill his arch-nemesis, Carole Baskin, lost his zoo, G.W. Exotic Animal Memorial Park, to Baskin pursuant to a court order on June 1, 2020.
The judge ruled Exotic fraudulently transferred the zoo property to his mother to avoid the claims of his creditors – particularly Baskin. Joe Exotic’s mother, Shirley M. Schreibvogel, admitted that the property was transferred to her to remove it from the reach of creditors. Baskin had won a trademark infringement suit against him in 2011 for $1 million. Whenever someone has creditors or has been threatened with a lawsuit or has been sued, the transfer of property can be set aside as a fraudulent conveyance. If Exotic thought his feud with big cat animal rights preservationist Baskin would have resulted in a lawsuit, he could have transferred the zoo property to an irrevocable trust that could have been designed to have no adverse tax consequences besides giving creditor protection.
The court ruled that the property (16 acres) be transferred to Baskin and that Jeff Lowe (who has been in control of the private zoo in recent years) vacate the premises, including all the animals (mostly tigers) residing there within 120 days. Baskin, who owns Big Cat Rescue in Florida, had sued Joe Exotic over four years ago to set aside the fraudulent conveyance. She spent $2.5 million to set aside the conveyance of the property (reportedly worth $1 million).
Joe Exotic is currently in a DFW medical center after being exposed to COVID-19 while in jail. He has asked President Trump for a pardon. Lowe plans to open Tiger King Park behind the WinStar Casino in Oklahoma within 120 days.
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