of Governors met in June 1997, Spano was not present. Instead, the Islanders were represented by two men from the Pickett regime. Upon further investigation, it emerged that Spano had only paid a total of $26,200 to Pickett for the cable rights after five attempts. On one attempt, he'd wired Pickett only $5,000 instead of the $5 million originally agreed upon. On another, a $17 million check had bounced. On another, he sent $1,700 when he was supposed to send $17 million. At the request of Pickett, Bettman ordered Spano to remove himself from day-to-day control of the Islanders and not use any team assets until the dispute could be settled. In early July, Newsday, acting on tips from anonymous Islanders executives that their new boss was worth significantly less than advertised, began investigating Spano's background. On July 9, Newsday published a story that exposed Spano as a fraud who was not worth even a fraction of the money required to complete the Islanders deal. Among other things, the Newsday investigation revealed: He had grossly misrepresented his net worth; he was worth only $5 million. His Bison Group had 22 employees and assets of $3 million. He had lied about numerous items on his résumé. For instance, he had claimed to have graduated from an exclusive prep school in Ohio, but had actually graduated from a small Catholic school in Ashtabula. His "inherited wealth" did not exist; neither of his grandfathers had an estate valued at more than $246,000. Under the terms of a mediation brokered by Bettman, Spano relinquished control of the Islanders back to Pickett on July 11. In return, Pickett agreed not to sue Spano for breach of contract. Spano later told Sports Illustrated that a "significant" capital call and a payment on a note blew apart his plans to pay Pickett. However, he claimed that once Pickett asked Bettman to intervene and the story broke in the press, it was impossible for him to resolve the dispute. It also emerged that Spano owed $85,000 in back property taxes on his home. There had been some questions about Spano even before the Islanders deal came unraveled; the other NHL owners were reportedly wary of Spano well before his purchase of the team was approved. Then-New Jersey Devils owner John McMullen, for instance, told Stan Fischler (a longtime television analyst for SportsChannel New York, which owned and still