Dennis RomeroAre the cases against rave promoters caught up in the L.A. Coliseum corruption scandal starting to unravel?
Last week we reported than an email described by the prosecution as a “smoking gun” had a questionable time stamp and arguably raised other issues with the criminal case against Insomniac Events' Pasquale Rotella and Go Ventures' Reza Gerami.
Now comes word that a judge has dismissed part of the Coliseum's civil suit against the pair:
City News Service reports that portions of the publicly run Coliseum's suit against the duo have been dismissed, mainly because the venue doesn't have the authority to file such a claim.
Raver girls.; Credit: Caesar Sebastian
That authority would rest with prosecutors or individuals who help them, according to the report.
The claim sought triple damages under California's False Claims Act.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory Alarcon said:
Plaintiffs fail to show that they are a prosecuting agency … for purposes of the False Claims Act.
Other allegations in the claim remain as it moves forward, but he said even those would have to be shored up for the suit to survive.
The suit essentially alleges that the promoters conspired with two top Coliseum managers to bilk the venue out of cash that they instead paid to venue events honcho Todd DeStefano on the side.
They allegedly paid about $1.8 million to him since 2008. The duo was also indicted for alleged conspiracy, embezzlement and bribery. They pleaded not guilty.
An attorney for Gerami told us that the money was paid to DeStefano for services he rendered off-site and outside his purview as an events manager.
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