Korbel family court fight ends with settlement, parting shots

<p>Years of ugly legal combat between Korbel champagne baron Gary Heck and his daughter have been settled for an undisclosed sum - believed to be in the millions - and mutual promises to leave each other alone for the rest of their lives.</p><p>The confidential settlement agreement brings an end to nearly a dozen legal actions between Heck, 62, and his daughter, Richie Ann Samii, 41, that have produced boxes upon boxes of legal files in Sonoma County courts over the past three years.</p><p>It comes as the trial date approached earlier this month. The 18 pages of agreements and orders were filed Oct. 19 after the parties agreed to the terms on Oct. 9.</p><p>Both sides agreed to gag-order language in the settlement. “The matters have been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties,” Korbel spokesman Terry Fahn said.</p><p>“That's all I can say,” echoed Samii's attorney, Richard Zitrin of San Francisco.</p><p>Samii was seeking millions of dollars from her father, claiming he and the trustees managing two trusts illegally removed money from her accounts.</p><p>Since 2006, the parties filed at least nine legal actions, complete with name-calling and attacks on each other's character. Some had been dismissed or consolidated. Last week's settlement brings an end to any and all claims forever, according to court documents.</p><p>Amid boilerplate legal jargon assigning each party's rights and obligations is some colorful language that points to the acrimony between father and daughter.</p><p>Samii agrees to release Korbel and Heck for “action of every nature” “throughout the universe and in perpetuity,” the agreement states. She also agrees not to bring legal action regarding “any conduct by the Korbel parties from the beginning of time” to the date of the agreement.</p><p>Heck and Korbel agreed to identical language, severing ties with his only daughter. A life-insurance trust Heck had set up was split between Samii and Heck's son, Aaron.</p><p>While there had been trouble between father and daughter for decades, according to court testimony, the relationship blew up after Samii and her then-boyfriend, Chris Samii, were accused of raping two young women at the Korbel winery.</p><p>The couple has since married.</p><p>No formal criminal charges were brought, but Heck decided having Samii live on Korbel property and involved in winery affairs was a legal liability. He moved to evict her from the ranch she'd lived on for more than a decade.</p><p>Samii argued that more than $4.5 million from her trust fund had been misused, a charge Heck denied. She also alleged that trustees of a second trust improperly “repaid” Heck and Korbel over $12 million. The trustees are members of Korbel's board of directors.</p><p>At one point, Heck and several other Korbel executives sought - and received - a restraining order forbidding Samii from contacting them after she allegedly posted what was perceived as a death threat against them on a social-networking site.</p><p>Bitter familial court battles have been part of the Heck legacy since the family purchased Korbel, already a premier sparkling wine cellar, in 1953. Adolph Heck, Gary's father, wrested full ownership of the firm from his two brothers during a nasty and prolonged legal case that spanned much of the 1970's, ending in 1984.</p><p>Samii, a mother of three who married Chris Samii about 2½ years ago, moved from the 160-acre Korbel-owned ranch near Guerneville where she had lived for the past 11 years. She remains in Sonoma County, Zitrin said, and still cares for her dogs, horses and zebras, one of which is pregnant.</p><p>The judgment calls for Samii to relinquish any rights to Korbel or its stock or any previous trusts. </p><p>“Korbel . . . shall purchase the stock of Korbel held” in Samii's personal trust for its fair market value as of last week, the judgment states. It does not say how many units of stock were in the trust, though court files from 2008 show that the trust was supposed to terminate when Samii reaches age 45 and that 13,000 Korbel shares become hers. A report by the trust's administrators estimated the market value of the stock at $2 million to $4.5 million.</p><p>“Other than the payments made pursuant to the settlement agreement, there is and shall be no obligation by Gary B. Heck to hereafter provide funds to Richie Ann,” the agreement states.</p><p>Judge Mark Tansil presided over the final agreement.</p>