Jon Gosselin Returns $230K to Joint Account

Oct. 26, 2009 — -- Jon and Kate Gosselin's never ending divorce battle took another turn today when Jon declared that he has returned $230,000 to a joint bank account he shares with his estranged wife.

At a hearing last week, Gosselin was ordered to return funds he withdrew from the account by today or face contempt of court charges.

According to The Associated Press, Gosselin criticized his wife for not appearing in court today. He says she still has not explained how she spent $33,000 in joint funds. Messages left by the AP for Kate Gosselin's attorney were not immediately returned. The judge has scheduled the couple's next court date for late November.

Last week the Gosselins' respective lawyers met a court-appointed arbitrator to iron out the couple's economic issues -- namely that Kate Gosselin, who wants child and spousal support, accused her ex of taking $230,000 from the bank account. At a subsequent hearing, a judge ordered Gosselin to reimburse the crumbling couple's joint bank account to the tune of nearly $200,000.

Talking to "The Insider" recently, Jon Gosselin countered that he had only $22,000 from the account, which he said shouldn't matter to the mother of his kids because she has money hidden away.

"The remaining sum of $55,000, which Ms. Gosselin used for household bills and expenses relating to the children, will be subject to further determination by the arbitrator at a later date," Kate Gosselin's lawyer, Mark Momjian, said.

The news comes after TLC, which airs the family's reality show, "Jon & Kate Plus 8," filed a lawsuit in Maryland earlier this month against Jon Gosselin, accusing him of breaching his contract with the show. The suit alleges that Gosselin hasn't met the obligations of his contract as an exclusive employee, has appeared on other programs for profit and made unauthorized disclosures about the show.

"The network has been trying privately and patiently for months to get Jon to honor the contract he signed and to comply with his obligations relating to public appearances and statements," TLC spokeswoman Laurie Goldberg said in a statement to ABCNews.com. "Those efforts have been unsuccessful. The Washington, D.C., law firm of Williams & Connolly LLP has been retained to represent the network in the litigation."

Meanwhile, Kate Gosselin said in a statement earlier this month that she's "disturbed" by allegations from the family's former babysitter that her estranged husband hacked into her e-mails, phone records and online bank accounts.

"Ms. Gosselin is carefully considering all of her legal options regarding this matter, and she will pursue them if and when the time is right," said a statement from Gosselin's attorneys at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, her Philadelphia law firm.

The lawsuit and hacking allegations follow the news that the Gosselins may soon be off TV for good.

"'Jon & Kate Plus 8' will be finished in mid- to late-November," TLC's Goldberg told ABCNews.com, declining to comment further.

According to Radar Online, TLC will craft a few more episodes of the show with unused footage: Jon Gosselin recently forbade the network from filming any new video of his eight kids.

"Basically, we've put a halt on the show," Jon Gosselin's manager Mike Heller told People magazine earlier this month. "Jon has been talking to TLC for a long time to cut back on the production and still honor his contract -- because it's been getting in the way of his family, his children are complaining."

If Jon Gosselin changes his mind, his kids and ex-wife could be featured in "Kate Plus 8," TLC's planned spinoff of the soon-to-end series. If not, it could be a long time before the Gosselins come back to TV.