Tonight, a new report has indicated that Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini is the defendant in a lawsuit regarding a family trust. The Vancouver Canucks ownership group has faced a lot of uncertainty over the last several months after Paolo Aquilini unexpectedly relinquished his portion of ownership. At the time, it was unknown what happened between Paolo and Francesco but now, a lawsuit has been filed with Paolo as one of the plaintiffs and Francesco as a defendant. <h3>Vancouver Canucks Owner Francesco Aquilini Named Defendant in Family Lawsuit</h3> According to the recent filing, Paolo and Matteo Aquilini have filed a lawsuit against Francesco, Luigi, and Roberto Aquilini as the defendants. According to reports, Elisa Aquilini set up a family trust that was designed to benefit her grandchildren. It was meant to be a successor to the Elisa Trust and, as such, continue to operate based on the principles of the Elisa Trust for the benefit of the grandchildren of Luigi and Elisa The lawsuit claims that Luigi altered the family trust set up by his wife Elisa after her passing to keep certain family members out of benefitting from the financial part of the trust set up by Elisa. After Elisa passed, Luigi and his sons Francesco and Roberto wrongfully exercised their control to weaponize the terms of the LEALT and to disinherit the plaintiff and his siblings. As a result, Paolo and Matteo Aquilini were allegedly left out of the family business and fortune including ownership of the Vancouver Canucks which was the last straw that ultimately led the duo to seek legal action. This started with Luigi, Francesco and Roberto excluding Paolo from the business in February of 2020. Later, they engaged in a concerted and covert scheme to exclude the plaintiff from all manner of distributions and benefits from the LEALT. They did this in contravention of the LEALT's stated purpose and original guiding principles At this time, the Canucks ownership group and the NHL have not commented on the ongoing lawsuit <a href='https://vancouversun.com/news/lawsuit-aquilini-grandchildren-cut-out-canucks-family-fortune' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>according to the Vancouver Sun.</a> This is a situation that will likely continue developing into the NHL season and could cause a major distraction for the Canucks and the Aquilini family at some point this year.