Lance Armstrong has settled out of court at the eleventh hour with Acceptance Insurance, which had filed a civil fraud lawsuit against the disqualified Tour de France winner, USA Today reports. The insurance company sought to recover a $3 million bonus paid to Armstrong after he won his third straight Tour de France, in 2001; since his confession to Oprah Winfrey in January, when he admitted doping throughout his Tour winning years, Acceptance and many others have opened suits to reclaim moneys paid.
Despite attempted delays in proceedings from the Armstrong camp - described by Acceptance attorney Mark Kinkaid as a "lengthy string of delays, unanswered calls, unheeded requests, and general foot-dragging so that Armstrong's counsel have not provided a reasonable alternate date" - the Texan was due to go under oath in the Austin, Texas, court tomorrow. Armstrong has managed to avoid this however, with his attorney Tim Herman confirming to USA Today that the case had been “resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties.”
Avoiding the long federal investigation into his and his teams activities, which was closed on Superbowl Sunday in 2012, and refusing to co-operate with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) investigation that eventually brought him down, Armstrong is thought not to have been under oath since the deposition he gave as he denied ever doping when claiming a similar bonus from SCA Promotions after his fifth Tour victory.
SCA Promotions is also seeking to reclaim what amounted to $12 million from Armstrong, with a proposed $1 million settlement rejected last week.
Armstrong faces two further pending lawsuits, which seek to recover cash paid during his Tour dominating years, the largest of which is the whistleblower suit filed by former teammate - and fellow disqualified Tour winner - Floyd Landis, and joined by the federal government, which could cost the Texan most of his fortune.