The lawsuit was filed by company founder Paul McKim. Coleman is not a party to the case, but the allegations upended his re-election bid in the final days of the campaign. A separate lawsuit filed in Delaware contains an almost identical description of Kazeminy’s attempts to provide money to Coleman.

McKim’s attorney, Casey Wallace, had argued that there was no need for a delay in the court case. “These are simple allegations,” he told MnIndy last month. “This is not an Enron-ish type case. They’ve had plenty of time to do their investigation.”

A lawsuit alleging that Norm Coleman’s longtime associate Nasser Kazeminy attempted to funnel $75,000 to the senator should proceed without delay, says attorney Casey Wallace.

Last week, lawyers representing Deep Marine Holdings, a Houston-based company of which Kazeminy is a primary stockholder, sought a stay that would delay proceedings in the case for at least two months. They argued that an internal investigation set up by the company should be completed before any more court proceedings are held.

But Wallace, the attorney representing plaintiff Paul McKim, the founder and chief executive officer of Deep Marine Holdings, insists there’s no need for a delay.

“These are simple allegations,” he said on the phone from Houston. “This is not an Enron-ish type case. They’ve had plenty of time to do their investigation.”

A pair of lawsuits making nearly identical allegations about Kazeminy’s efforts to funnel money to Coleman were filed in Texas and Delaware courts just prior to the November election. The accusation is just one detail in a messy corporate dispute involving Deep Marine Holdings that has McKim at loggerheads with his former business partners.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has subsequently launched a probe into Coleman’s ties to Kazeminy.

Coleman has denied the allegations made in the suits, dismissing them as a last-second political smear. But as the U.S. Senate contest continues to drag on more than two months after election day, the cases have begun moving, albeit slowly, through the courts.

While McKim’s attorney believes the case should proceed without delay, he doesn’t see any political calculations behind the effort to postpone the lawsuit.

“Absolutely not,” Wallace said. “If there were I’d be happy to tell you yes. I absolutely do not believe that to be the case.”

A decision on whether to postpone the Texas lawsuit could come as soon as Monday, when a hearing is scheduled on the matter.

The case in Delaware, meanwhile, is also creeping forward. Arguments on a motion to dismiss the case are due by the end of next month.

“We entered into serious settlement negotiations,” says Wallace. “Those broke down today.”

Plaintiff Paul McKim

The lawsuit alleges that Kazeminy steered $75,000 through a Texas firm he controls to Coleman through a job his wife, Laurie Coleman, held with a Minnesota insurance firm. If Coleman received such a gift and failed to report it, the repercussions could extend beyond his reelection prospects. Earlier this week, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted of seven felony counts after failing to report gifts from friends on federal disclosure forms.

Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan has denied the allegation, calling it “baseless,” and claiming that the lawsuit is politically motivated.

Wallace denies this assertion. “It was absolutely, positively not done for political purposes,” he says. “It has nothing to do with the election.”

Previous MnIndy coverage:

Video: Sen. Norm Coleman flees reporters asking about pal Kazeminy’s Texas lawsuit
Latest Coleman & Kazeminy connection: The Star Tribune needs to tell the story
Coleman and Kazeminy redux: Here’s the legal complaint in McKim v. Kazeminy et al