By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Harbinger Capital Partners, the hedge fund firm run by Philip Falcone, filed a new lawsuit accusing satellite TV company Dish Network Corp and its chairman, Charles Ergen, of illegally trying to strip it of control of wireless company LightSquared during its bankruptcy.
The lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court seeks at least $1.5 billion of damages, which Harbinger wants tripled. It alleges civil violations of the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.
Harbinger's lawsuit extends a long-running legal battle over LightSquared, which won court permission on March 26 to emerge from its three-year bankruptcy.
The reorganization called for Harbinger to retain a 44.5 percent equity stake, down from more than 82 percent, but cede control to Centerbridge Partners and Fortress Investment Group LLC. Ergen was to receive about $1.5 billion in cash.
In Tuesday's complaint, the defendants were accused of fraudulently scheming to strip Harbinger of its LightSquared equity, and ability to make key decisions during the bankruptcy proceedings, by amassing a large amount of LightSquared debt.
Harbinger said Ergen, Dish and EchoStar Corp, which Ergen also chairs, did this with a goal of acquiring LightSquared's wireless spectrum assets at "fire-sale" prices. EchoStar was not named as a defendant.
Dish spokesman Bob Toevs, declined to comment. Tariq Mundiya, a lawyer for Ergen, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. David Friedman, a lawyer for Harbinger, declined to comment.
Harbinger sued after U.S. District Judge William Martinez in Denver dismissed a similar lawsuit on April 28, saying it could have pursued its claims in a lawsuit filed in the bankruptcy court, and that courts prefer to avoid "claim splitting."
Without ruling on the merits, the judge nonetheless said Harbinger could still pursue its claims in a different forum if it wished.
Dish is based in Englewood, Colorado, a Denver suburb.
The case is Harbinger Capital Partners LLC et al v. Ergen et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-05722.