Harbinger, LightSquared face investor lawsuit, $56M payment

Well it looks like troubles continue to mount for Harbinger Capital!

Last Friday, on an investor call, Phillip Falcone said, "While it is clear that the investment thesis was dead-on, going through the regulatory and political process here has been very disturbing, to say the least," Falcone said, according to the Wall Street Journal. "We are continuing to plow ahead on a number of different fronts. ... We are continuing to evaluate a number of the options we believe we have."

So let's just examine those two statements individually,  "While it is clear that the investment thesis was dead-on, going through the regulatory and political process here has been very disturbing, to say the least"  Reading this can't you imagine a White Star Line press release on April 15, 1912 saying that the maiden voyage of the Titanic was, except for that unfortunate event with that iceberg, superbly successful.  

"We are continuing to plow ahead on a number of different fronts. ... We are continuing to evaluate a number of the options we believe we have." which is clearly akin to Captain Smith on the Titanic  announcing to the passengers, "Ladies and gentlemen pay no attention to that ice on the deck, it is part of our North Atlantic cruise entertainment, please just enjoy the rest of your voyage, and by the way, drinks are on the White Star line for the rest of the trip! 

On Friday, Harbinger was sued by investors in the fund who claimed that they were misled over the "all in" investment Harbinger made in LightSquared, which has totaled more than $3 billion. Harbinger and its chief Philip Falcone "knew from the outset, or were reckless in failing to know, that LightSquared's technology interfered with GPS systems," according to the suit. The suit claims that because of LightSquared's status now, investors "stand to lose substantially all of the value of their investments." Harbinger declined to comment on the suit.

I believe that the investors are correct, do I believe they will recover their investment, not a chance!

Time will tell!

Marc