Gary Winnick, founder and chairman of bankrupt carrier Global Crossing, apparently isn't done trying to recoup wealth from his fallen telecommunications empire -- in fact he thinks he might get it back from his own company.

North Crescent Realty V LLC, a real-estate company controlled by Winnick, is demanding that Global Crossing pay nearly $500,000 in late rent, according to papers filed in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The bankruptcy claim serves as testament to Global Crossing's tangled web of relationships. The claim also comes despite the fact that Winnick personally pulled at least $500 million in sales of Global Crossing stock before the company collapsed (see GlobalX: The Burst Bubble).

Though Global Crossing is based in Bermuda, it has kept an extravagant Beverly Hills address for several years, and Winnick's investment company, Pacific Capital Group, is also based there. Global Crossing paid rent for its 86,740-square-foot digs to North Crescent Realty, which is managed by Pacific Capital Group.

Pacific Capital Group is the investment firm Gary Winnick founded in 1985 and it controlled most of Winnick's ownership of Global Crossing and was central to that company's structure (see Winnick's Web). Now, according to a bankruptcy court filing, North Crescent is saying Global Crossing owes it $495,866.43 in unpaid rent.

North Crescent claims that Global Crossing's accrued and unpaid interest for rent totaled $36,338.55 through April 30, 2002. That amount increased by $84.40 a day, the filing states.

Winnick isn't the only founder of a company to have intertwined venture-backed companies and real estate deals. Cogent Communications Inc., for instance, once disclosed in an SEC filing that it pays about $470,000 a year for its office space lease to a Washington, D.C.-based partnership in which Cogent founder and CEO Dave Schaeffer is a general partner (see Cogent's Finances Revealed in Filing).

— Phil Harvey, Senior Editor, Light Reading
http://www.lightreading.com