YNOT EUROPE – Berth H. Milton, chairman, president and acting chief executive officer of Barcelona-headquartered Private Media Group, is expected to appear in a Nevada courtroom Sept. 3 to face a lawsuit brought by a group of the company’s shareholders and creditors.

Filed earlier this year, the suit claims Milton — son of founder Berth H. Milton Sr., a noted photographer widely credited with launching a significant portion of the porn trade in the 1960s — is looting the company to fund an extravagant lifestyle. The lawsuit alleges Milton has authorized more than $10 million in loans to himself from the company over the past decade and has returned none of the money. In addition, according to court documents, Milton awarded himself a $600,000 annual salary without board approval and is forcing Private to pay his personal legal bills while he fights an extended tax battle with the Swedish government.

To top everything off, the suit also charges that Milton last month fired now-former Chief Executive Officer Ilan Bunimovitz when Bunimovitz launched an investigation into shareholder concerns.

Bunimovitz joined the lawsuit, calling his firing “retaliation.”

“There is a pattern of Milton doing whatever he wants and then getting members of the board … to figure out a way to justify it after the fact,” the lawsuit claims.

In mid-August, post-Bunimovitz, Milton and a small group of supporters attempted to issue additional common shares to Milton in order to give him a controlling interest in the company and delete the par value of outstanding shares. The Nevada court that will hear the lawsuit blocked the attempt.

Private, once known for its lavish productions in exotic locales, like every other adult studio has scrambled to maintain its footing in the face of increasing pressure from the smut glut on the web and content piracy. For fiscal year 2009, the publicly traded Nevada corporation reported a 17-percent increase in revenues over 2008 while reporting a nearly tripled operating loss and a quadrupled net loss. The company blamed both losses on “increased selling, general and administrative expenses.”