Calvin Harris secures $13.5 million payout in lawsuit against former financial advisor
Calvin Harris has won $13.5 million on the first judgement in his legal battle against former financial advisor Thomas St. John, accused of defrauding the star in a “boondoggle” real estate project.
Retired federal judge Michael R. Wilner awarded the Scottish DJ, real name Adam Wiles, the sum of his unpaid $10 million loan to ex-business manager St. John plus interest and fees in initial arbitration proceedings last month, Billboard reports.
The rest of the total $22.5 million sum in Wiles’ arbitration demands is an equity investment and will be ruled on as proceedings develop regarding the existence and extent of fraud around the development of the now-foreclosed CMNTY Culture Campus.
“To this day, Claimants [Wiles] do not know where Claimants’ investment has gone or what it has been used for,” Harris’s lawyers said, via Variety when the news first broke. “In any event, Respondents had no intention of Mr. Wiles actually receiving back the full value of his investment, through distributions or otherwise.” They said this investment was “at best, a complete boondoggle, and, at worst, a complete fraud.”
Plans for CMNTY Culture Campus included recording studios, artist facilities and offices, 750 apartments, with 90 low-income units, and outdoor space and retail storefronts across the 460,000-square-foot development, with an anticipated $900 million valuation, according to St. Johns’ lawyers. Real estate credit firm Parkview Financial also loaned St. John $35 million, but later foreclosed on the project. The firm has filed a lawsuit against St. John for $16.5 million plus interest.
Another EDM star, Eric Prydz, is in a legal battle with Thomas St. John, who also served as his former business manager. Prydz is suing St. John in a California court for stealing nearly $270 million.
