John Mayer is being sued for almost $500K which is the amount of money he received in 2008 for a concert. Apparently the money he was paid was the money stolen by a man who was recently convicted in a $100M Ponzi scheme and the agents who are trying to recover the defrauded money have set their eyes on Mayer and his $465K. It was a corporate event that John worked and it shows you that companies really have no sense. Would you pay John Mayer $500K to come sing at your corporate retreat for 30 minutes? How about giving everyone at the event $1K instead and a John Mayer CD?
John has admitted to having a 20 million watch collection.
ReplyDeleteHe can sell a watch or two and return the money.
Or host a free show for all the victims. I'm sure they would like that just as much...not.
I don't really understand the legal-workings of this. Why is he being SUED? He was hired to perform, did his thing, and collected his check. It doesn't seem like they were all, "HERE HELP US LAUNDER THIS MONEY!" How is this not just being worked out privately between attorneys?
ReplyDeleteIf Mayer didn't know anything about his clients--why would he have to return the money? I'm no fan of his, but why is he responsible for what the people who hire him do?
ReplyDeleteIs he implicated in actually knowing about the scheme? anyone know? I could google...
I have no insight on the Ponzi scheme aspect here, but just had to share that JM looks like an extremely douchetastic dentist I used to work for, especially in this picture. Oh, and the tooth doc had curly hair. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI imagine the $500k to John is also billed as an 'entertainment expense' on their accounting ledger (maybe a tax write off?). So yeah, like Amber said, money laundering, which I highly doubt Mayer was aware. It's not like he accepted a gig to perform for a foreign dictator.
ReplyDeleteAdded bonus: hiring John to perform live might attract groupies (yes, he still has them) & the corp group might benefit from the runoff.
John Mayer may be a douchebag of the highest order, who gets off on pooping on girls and forcing them to have abortions, but I don't think that he was a knowing participant in this Ponzi Scheme.
ReplyDeleteIt's like the Madoff case in that the attorneys are attempting to recoup the funds to pay back those who lost their savings in the swindle.
ReplyDeleteWell said, Cathy. *choking up*
ReplyDelete*spontaneous standing ovation*
All I've read is that it was based in Seattle, where I live, and I didn't hear anything about it until JM's name came into the story.
ReplyDeleteIf it's like the Madoff case, regulators can reclaim profits from investors in the Ponzi scheme (even if they were unaware it was a Ponzi scheme).
ReplyDeleteIt seems the booking agency invested in the Ponzi scheme and paid Mayer with the proceeds. I can see them going after the booking agency, but going after Mayer seems like a stretch.
I'd understand if he had been paid in stolen property (art, e.g.), but money is pretty fungible. Hard to prove that the specific $465K Mayer received is the exact $465k the agency did.
/Not a lawyer.
Out the CEOs who pay for this shit at shareholder's expense so they can get their photo taken next to a celeb.
It's a desperate money grab.
ReplyDeleteAll Mayer has to do is plead reasonable ignorance. How was he to know that the money came from a Ponzi scheme?
ReplyDeleteIf the funds he was paid with were from the Ponzi scheme, law enforcement will try to collect it from Meyer. Its like being paid with stolen goods. Even if you don't know its stolen, its still not yours to keep.
ReplyDelete@Libby - thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteFollowing up on Yodelay's comment...This isn't the police trying to get back stolen property. It's lawyers trying to get money from someone they know has it. His lawyer should be able to get him out of it. What, are they gonna rip the jewelry off everyone's arms that were remotely tied to this scheme because it may have been purchased with ponzi funds? Because that's basically the premise behind it. It's going to be hard for them to recover the money. He was paid to do a job and he got paid. Not his fault where the money came from.
ReplyDeleteHe's not even an investor in the Ponzi scheme. He's done no wrong, and this will be tossed.
ReplyDeleteMaybe everyone's favorite vicarious I-took-a-lawyer-as-my-breakfast-lover-and-am-now-an-expert-on-the-law douche will comment. Son of a bitch dropped a brick in his pants and took off, looks like.
ReplyDeleteMaybe everyone's favorite vicarious I-took-a-lawyer-as-my-breakfast-lover-and-am-now-an-expert-on-the-law douche will comment. Son of a bitch dropped a brick in his pants and took off, looks like.
ReplyDelete^Misspoppypants: He commented on a post recently and he has been reading, just not posting.
Deletewait wait wait, what's this pooping/abortions business?
ReplyDeleteWhen you write a law suit, you name everyone even tangentially involved.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone thinks Mayer's gonna give his 500k back, but the threat of it might leverage him to testify.
Dont care for mayers behavor, but suing him for this is stretching it.
ReplyDelete