In an arbitration demand, DJ Calvin Harris has accused his financial adviser Thomas St. John of stealing money from him under the guise of a real estate investment.
This is not what Calvin Harris came for.
The DJ (real name Adam Wiles) has accused his financial adviser Thomas St. John of stealing over $22.5 million to fund a “boondongle” real estate project.
In a demand for arbitration obtained by Variety, lawyers for Harris allege that his former adviser—with whom he worked for 13 years—had “run low” on cash and thus turned to the DJ for an emergency fund.
Harris’ attorneys state that the 41-year-old was given no information about the project—called the CMNTY Culture campus, a stalled development for entertainment, recording studios and offices—but was “handed over documents” to sign. The demand further alleges that Harris gave a $10 million loan to the project as well as a $12.5 million equity investment, but that he does not know where the money went or what it was used for “to this day.”
“Respondents had no intention of Mr. Wiles actually receiving back the full value of his investment, through distributions or otherwise,” the document alleges, arguing that the CMNTY campus “has been, at best, a complete boondoggle, and, at worst, a complete fraud.”
Meanwhile, St. John denies Harris’ claims. In a statement made through his attorney, Sasha Frid, to Variety, the financier alleged that Harris “actively pursued this development opportunity.”
“Unhappy with the pace of the project, he chose to pursue private arbitration to assert his discontent,” St. John’s statement continued. “It’s no secret that due to interest rates and other market factors real estate projects are taking longer to build.”
And despite over two years of stalled work on the CMNTY campus, St. John said through his lawyer, “The development is very much viable and expected to have a $900+ million valuation when completed.”
His lawyer emphasized on behalf of his client, “Mr. St. John denies any wrongdoing.”
However, Harris—who shares son Micah, 2 months, with wife Vick Hope—maintains that his $10 million loan was supposed to be returned by the end of January of this year, noting that the sum, in addition to interest, is still unpaid, in the arbitration demand, per Variety.
Through the demand for arbitration, Harris and his legal team were given a stipulated agreement—which was confirmed in Los Angeles’ Superior Court Sept. 12—that the company will not overspend its funds while the process is pending, according to Variety.
E! News has reached out to reps for Harris and St. John but has not yet heard back.
Source: www.eonline.com