Can an former employer dissuade another employer from hiring an employee that has resigned?

I have reason to believe and evidence to support the theory that my former employer ("Past") is attempting to dissuade an interested employer ("Prospective") from hiring me.

The relationship between the two employers is that my former company was a distributor for the interested employers' products. The Prospective emp. also sells these products direct, but in a non-competitive way with my Past employer.

The Past employer did not interfere with a former employee making this same transition in the past, but I think that due to my prior standing as a top performer and possibly some other ego related reasons, the Past employer has seen fit to interfere with my attempt to work for the Prospective employer.

I do not have a non-compete contract with the past performer, but the Prospective employer is not a competitor, so this is a non-issue.

I have written communication from the Prospective employer indicating clearly their intentions in hiring me. Shortly thereafter, I was contacted by another manager who expressed concern about my Past employers' reaction to hiring me. From that point, I have been unable to receive a response from the Prospective employer.

During the initial meeting with the General Manager, he said in no uncertain terms that I would be an ideal fit, but there was some concern the the Past employer would be upset. I expressed my belief that this concern was unfounded due to the fact the Past employer had already allowed this same transition to happen with a former employee and also that I would be in a non-competitive position with the Prospective employer.

Any insight you have on this matter is much appreciated.