Tyson and his wife claim they were prevented from emerging from bankruptcy after an advisor hired by the giant company stole 300K from them and set them back $5 million.
- Feb 21, 2013
AceShowbiz - Mike Tyson is suing Live Nation and its subsidiary SFX Financial Advisory Management Enterprises. The former boxing champ accuses Brian Ourand, the financial advisor hired by the company to assist him and his wife with their financial issues, of stealing their money, and claims the company tried to shut them up.
The Tysons state in their filing that Ourand, who's now working for another financial advisory firm, embezzled more than 300,000 from them while they were trying to settle a bankruptcy. His scheme, the couple says, caused a ripple effect that forced them to mortgage their home and borrow money to settle their debt with the IRS.
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, February 20 in L.A. Superior Court, Ourand is also believed to have purposely given them "deceptive and faulty financial advice." They lost "lucrative business opportunities" as the bankruptcy proceedings dragged on, and were later "forced to enter into an onerous bankruptcy settlement."
The Tysons say they didn't know about the embezzlement until 2011 when they asked the company why Ourand no longer handled their finances. They were given back some of the missing money and later sent a legal document containing a nondisclosure agreement that would prevent them from going to court if they signed it.
The company hasn't given Tyson and his wife Lakiha a full report of their losses from the embezzlement, but the couple estimates it caused them damages "in excess of $5,000,000." The couple is suing for negligent hiring, retention and supervision; conversion; breach of fiduciary duty; fraud; and unjust enrichment.
"Defendant Ourand and Defendant SFX/Live Nation deceived the Tysons in the worst possible way at the worst possible time when the Tysons needed them to conclude Mr. Tyson's bankruptcy proceedings," the documents read. Besides economic and compensatory damages along with full accounting of their losses, they are seeking punitive damages, court costs and attorneys' fees.
A spokesperson for Live Nation says they haven't been served with the lawsuit, so couldn't comment on it. No words from Ourand either. His scheme, according to the Tysons, hasn't been reported to regulators.
