Disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein is suing his brother and other executives of their former film company, The Weinstein Company.
In the lawsuit filed on Thursday, the 72-year-old accused brother Bob Weinstein and others at the company of duping him into guaranteeing a $45m business loan in 2016, but using the funds for their own gain.
Weinstein, once one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood, is awaiting a retrial on sex offences, and is currently in jail in New York.
His lawyer, Imran Ansari, said in a statement: "Harvey Weinstein was deceived by those closest to him and secured a $45m (£35.8m) dollar loan under the pretence of saving The Weinstein Company".
He went on: "While Harvey personally guaranteed the loan, others within The Weinstein Company enriched themselves and strategically undermined him, leaving him 'holding the bag' of debt while 'lining their pockets' when the company was in crisis."
The suit claims that Bob Weinstein, 70, and other executives at the company used the loan as part of a plot to seize control of the company, which went bankrupt in 2018 amid claims of sexual misconduct against Harvey Weinstein.
A lawyer for Bob Weinstein, Brian Kohn, told media that the lawsuit was “entirely without merit”.
It comes after Weinstein pleaded with a New York court for his retrial to be brought forward, citing his declining health.
Last month, Manhattan’s Criminal Court scheduled the trial for April 15, where claims he he raped an aspiring actor in 2013 and forcibly performed oral sex on a production assistant will be reheard.
He remains in custody after being sentenced to sixteen years in prison over a separate conviction for rape in California.
Claims of sex attacks surfaced against Weinstein during the #MeToo movement in 2017.
But his 2020 rape conviction was overturned by the New York Court of Appeals because it found he did not get a fair trial, as women who had made allegations against him were allowed to testify without being part of the charges in that case.
Weinstein also faces a new sexual assault charge for allegedly forcing oral sex on a another woman at a Manhattan hotel in 2006. He has denied the allegation.
