US government still trying to recover $1.2million from Lance Armstrong’s former manager Johan Bruyneel

The US government is still trying to recover $1.2million from Lance Armstrong’s former manager Johan Bruyneel.

Bruyneel and Armstrong were sued by the US Justice Department for civil fraud in 2013, but Bruyneel has refused to pay according to a report from USA Today.

The US government filed a lawsuit on behalf of the US Postal Service, which sponsored Armstrong’s team from 2000 to 2004, arguing that the Armstrong and Bruyneel had defrauded the sponsor by doping.

Last year, the government reached a $5million (£4million) settlement with Armstrong.

Bruyneel has ignored the lawsuit since 2014, skipping the proceedings and refusing to accept documents from an attorney who was hired by the US to visit Bruyneel at his home in Spain last year.

A $1.2million (£970,000) default judgement was entered against Bruyneel last year, based on an estimated compensation he received through US Postal funds.

In documents filed last month in Washington D.C, the US Government said: “Spanish counsel, using a notary, attempted to personally serve Bruyneel at his residence in San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid, Spain with a copy of the documentation of these proceedings.

“The Spanish Notary was able to confirm that the person answering the door at the residence was Bruyneel, but Bruyneel refused to accept the documents.”

Brunyeel may be ordered to pay the money by a Spanish court, while the US government has offered him one more opportunity to fight the case against him.

The case dates back to 2010 when Armstrong’s former team-mate Floyd Landis filed a complaint as a government whistleblower, which makes him eligible to collect 10 per cent of any money the government collects from Bruyneel.

Landis used his share from the Armstrong settlement to start his own cycling team, Floyd’s Pro Cycling.