9:12 PM PT -- An attorney for Dean Spanos provided us the following statement on behalf of Alexis Spanos Ruhl, Michael Spanos and Dean.
"We will address these meritless claims at the appropriate time, in the appropriate forum. Our parents, Alex and Faye, wanted the Chargers to be part of the Spanos Family for generations to come."
"The three of us will remain firmly united as we fulfill our parents' wishes to make every decision in the best interests of the Chargers and our entire family."
Chargers owner and chairman Dean Spanos is being sued by his own family ... who accuse Uncle Dean of secretly diverting money meant for them after the team moved from San Diego.
The allegations are spelled out in a lawsuit filed Friday in San Joaquin County, California.
Dean's nephews, Dimitri and Lex Economou -- beneficiaries of the trust that owns a portion of the NFL team -- have accused Spanos of secretly changing the trust, screwing them out of boatloads of money in the process, according to the lawsuit.
According to the suit, here's the deal ... the trust owns 36% of the Chargers. In addition, the trust is also partially funded by revenue from the stadium -- and therein lies the problem.
The Economous' claim Dean convinced the family the move from San Diego to Los Angeles would be lucrative with the building of SoFi Stadium ... the $5+ billion state-of-the-art facilities where the Chargers play.
However, Dimitri and Lex say Dean -- with aid from brother Michael Spanos -- surreptitiously diverted money from the trust ... cutting them off from the stadium-related revenue (ticket sales, etc.).
FYI, Dean's dad, billionaire Alex Spanos, purchased the team in 1984. In 2017, the team moved from San Diego to L.A.
The suit claims Dean and Michael redirected the money while dad Alex and mom Faye -- who both passed in 2018 -- were in "failing health."
The lawsuit doesn't specify an amount ... but we're talking about a team worth nearly $3 BILLION, according to a Forbes report last summer.
While the team has improved on the field and is worth a lot of money, the lawsuit paints a grim financial picture for the Spanos family.
it's the season finale,
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) January 21, 2022
but it's far from over
According to the docs, the trust is in major financial trouble ... and that's been compounded by Dean's alleged misconduct.
Bottom line ... the suing family members want things to go back to the way it was before the changes were instituted. Dimitri and Lex have also asked a judge to remove Dean as the co-trustee of the trust ... and they want monetary damages awarded to them.
We've reached out to a rep for Dean Spanos. So far, no word back.