Debro v. Los Angeles Raiders
Plaintiff Joseph Debro has filed a number of lawsuits since the mid-1990’s in which he has alleged that loans made by governmental entities in 1995 to induce the Los Angeles Raiders (Raiders) to return to Oakland from Los Angeles were, in fact, gifts made without any expectation the loaned amounts would be repaid. (See Debro v. Los Angeles Raiders (2001) 92 Cal.App.4th 940, 943-944 (Debro I).) In one earlier case, Debro alleged the Raiders violated the California False Claims Act (Gov. Code, §§ 12650-12655)[1] (the Act) in connection with the 1995 loans by knowingly presenting a false claim to a public entity. (Ibid.) In Debro I, Division Five of this court concluded that Debro’s claim was barred by the applicable statute of limitations. (Debro I, at pp. 955-956.) In this action, Debro again alleges the Raiders violated the Act as a result of their acceptance of the 1995 loans, only now the claim is that the Raiders were the beneficiary of an inadvertent submission of a false claim. The trial court sustained the Raiders’ demurrer to Debro’s complaint without leave to amend, reasoning the action is barred by direct estoppel and the applicable statute of limitations. We affirm the judgment.
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