A member of the billionaire Aquilini family alleges he and his siblings were disinherited and, along with their father, excluded from the family business “as retaliation” following historic allegations of sexual assault against an unnamed family member.
The civil claim from Matteo Aquilini — son of former Vancouver Canucks co-owner Paolo Aquilini — alleges his grandfather, Luigi Aquilini, along with Francesco Aquilini and Roberto Aquilini, who are his uncles and current co-owners of the team, “engaged in a concerted and covert scheme” to exclude Matteo and his siblings from the Luigi and Elisa Aquilini Legacy Trust which was intended to provide for all the couple’s descendants.
The lawsuit alleges Elisa’s death in 2015 left a “profound void in the family — one that unsettled the balance and unity that Elisa had long helped to maintain.”
“Luigi, together with Roberto and Francesco, did more than disinherit the plaintiff,” the suit reads.
“Through their actions, they effectively extinguished the very legacy Elisa sought to preserve. She envisioned a future where all her grandchildren, present and future, would be supported, empowered and united under the values she held dear.
“The defendants’ actions … do violence to and seek to erase that vision. Without the court’s intervention, no child in the next generation will know her love through what she tried to leave behind.”
The lawsuit was filed this week in B.C. Supreme Court and online records show no statements of defence filed.
The claims have not been tested in court. CBC News emailed Matteo, his lawyer and the Aquilini Investment Group seeking comment, but has not received an immediate reply.
Grandmother’s death and allegations
Matteo’s lawsuit tells a story of how a “closely integrated” extended family came apart with the loss of Elisa, described as their “calm centre.”
“She loved her children and grandchildren equally and was fiercely protective of them,” the claim asserts. “At times, Elisa shielded her sons from Luigi’s harsh treatment and the ‘tough love’ he imparted on them in both business and life.”
The suit claims in 1995, Luigi and Elisa established a family trust to provide for future generations.
Luigi, it is alleged, was never to benefit from or control the trust property. The assets held “enormous value,” the suit claims.
In 2015, Elisa fell “gravely ill.” Luigi allegedly placed the trust’s assets in a new trust, the lawsuit claims, under the guise of reorganizing as a new trust that had him as a controller and beneficiary.
At that time, the suit claims the trust was valued at $320 million.
“Luigi orchestrated these steps purely to circumvent the restrictions of the Elisa trust and in furtherance of his own self-interest,” it claims.
In 2020, the suit alleges, Paolo told his father and brothers about historic sexual assault allegations allegedly perpetrated by one family member against another. The suit alleges Luigi, Roberto and Francesco then sidelined Paolo and his children from the family and its businesses.
The lawsuit alleges Luigi also made only Roberto and Francesco and their families — minus Francesco’s children from a former wife — beneficiaries of the trust.
Matteo’s lawsuit asks for several possible remedies, including having his grandfather and uncles removed from control of the trust.
