Steven brothers, who bought Thunder hockey team, sue over sale disclosure

Three businessmen who bought the Wichita Thunder hockey team in August are suing the team's former owners, charging that they withheld key financial information about the team.

Steven Brothers Sports, which is owned by Rodney, Brandon and Johnny Steven, charges in the lawsuit that the team's former owners tried to hide the financial condition of the team by erasing data from Thunder computers.

After the sale, the lawsuit said, a computer technician hired by Steven Brothers Sports was able to restore some of the lost data.

"It revealed that the Thunder lost significantly more money in the most recent season than was reported to (the Stevens) during negotiations for the sale of the team," the lawsuit said.

"The records showed a significant and material financial loss for the 2009-2010 season, much more than had been communicated."

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are WIHO LLC of Northbrook, Ill., and Jeffrey Lund of Tulsa, who owns the Tulsa Oilers hockey team.

Wichita lawyer Mitchell Herren, who represents Steven Brothers Sports, said Chicago businessman Horn Chen is the principal owner of WIHO and the majority owner of the Thunder since its inception in 1992.

The Steven brothers announced in August that they had purchased the Central Hockey League franchise from Chen for an undisclosed price.

The lawsuit said that before the sale, the Stevens brothers were told that financial records for the team for the period of June 2009 though May 2010 "no longer existed due to a computer problem."

The lawsuit said that at about the time of the closing of the sale, WIHO hired a computer firm to erase the data from the Thunder's computer system.

It said the Stevens' decision to purchase the team was based on false financial statements and reports provided by the former owners.

" (Stevens Brothers Sports) would not have purchased the Thunder and paid the amount it agreed to pay in the agreement had it known defendants representations were false," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit, filed in Sedgwick County District Court, seeks more than $75,000 in damages. A lawyer for WIHO did not return a call seeking comment.

This story was originally published October 13, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Steven brothers, who bought Thunder hockey team, sue over sale disclosure."