Armstrong faces two new lawsuits

LOS ANGELES (AFP) –

Lance Armstrong, pictured on January 23, 2010 in Adelaide, was facing two more lawsuits on Friday in the wake of his admission that all seven of his Tour de France victories were fueled by banned drugs.

Lance Armstrong was facing two more lawsuits on Friday spawned by his admission that all seven of his Tour de France victories were fueled by banned drugs.

The Nebraska-based Acceptance Insurance Company sued Armstrong and Tailwind Sports Corporation claiming he committed fraud by concealing his use of performance enhancing drugs during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Tours.

“By his cheating and deception, Armstrong committed fraud. This suit seeks repayment of $3 million in undeserved an unearned pay Lance Armstrong obtained by fraud,” stated the lawsuit filed in Travis County Court in Austin, Texas.

The payment cited was a $3 million bonus paid to Armstrong for his first three Tour victories.

Acceptance claims that Armstrong’s lies void the policy under which the money was paid out.

In October, Armstrong was stripped of his Tour titles as well as all other results from August 1998 and banned for life after the US Anti-Doping Agency determined he was the key figure in a sophisticated doping program on his US Postal Service team.

He finally made a belated admission of doping in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey in January, in which he said he used a combination of blood-doping transfusions, blood-boosting EPO and testosterone throughout his career.

Key dates in the professional career of Lance Armstrong. Armstrong was facing two more lawsuits on Friday spawned by his admission that all seven of his Tour de France victories were fueled by banned drugs.

Armstrong was also sued Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles in a class-action lawsuit claiming Armstrong and FRS — maker of nutritional supplements — engaged in false advertising.

Armstrong spokesman Mark Fabiani said the Texan and his advisers had no comment on the suits, which are just the latest legal woes to spring from Armstrong’s disgrace.

The US government has joined a “whistle-blower” lawsuit seeking help the US Postal Service recoup “tens of millions” paid to Armstrong when it sponsored his team with more than $30 million — a lawsuit that could deliver a triple-damages blow costing Armstrong more than $90 million.

That lawsuit was first filed by Armstrong’s disgraced former teammate Floyd Landis, who claims Armstrong and team manager Johan Bruyneel defrauded taxpayers and the government by having Armstrong and other riders use performance-enhancing drugs.

Armstrong is also being sued by Texas insurance company SCA, which paid him $12.1 million in bonuses for multiple Tour victories.

In Britain, he is being sued by the Sunday Times, which is seeking repayment of the £1 million ($1.6 million, 1.2 million euros) libel settlement Armstrong won against the newspaper in 2006 after it printed allegations that he doped.