The CON Accounting : A Research Thread

[RebellionSparkles]

24 minutes ago, Steel Magnolia said:

From: Samuel Ingham
Sent: Monday, December 23, 2019 12:59 PM
To: 'Geraldine A. Wyle'; Jeryll S. Cohen
Subject:

Good morning, Geri & Jeryll -

Hope you are both enjoying the holiday season.

I'm writing to follow up on our previous discussions of the 2020 budget.

other stuff happening around this time:

Nov. 12, 2019 - Lou M. Taylor emails James Spears to address the 5% commission that Tri-Star Sports & Entertainment Group receives for their business management services. Since Britney is no longer working, Taylor requests, "...a floor of $500k a year." 

Nov. 25, 2019 - Atara Tours, LLC is dissolved.

Dec. 20, 2019 - Robin Greenhill emails James Spears a spreadsheet showing that Tri-Star needed $308,974.51 to meet their new "floor of $500k a year."

Dec. 20, 2019 - Within two hours, James Spears responds to Robin Greenhill's request with the message, "Approved."

**Didnt Lutfi's letter to Lynn happen in 2019 as well? EDIT: Lutfi's letter to Lynne was in May 2019

https://theblast.com/c/britney-spears-sam-lutfi-restraining-order-conservatorship/

[Steel Magnolia]

9 minutes ago, RebellionSparkles said:

other stuff happening around this time:

Nov. 12, 2019 - Lou M. Taylor emails James Spears to address the 5% commission that Tri-Star Sports & Entertainment Group receives for their business management services. Since Britney is no longer working, Taylor requests, "...a floor of $500k a year." 

Nov. 25, 2019 - Atara Tours, LLC is dissolved.

Dec. 20, 2019 - Robin Greenhill emails James Spears a spreadsheet showing that Tri-Star needed $308,974.51 to meet their new "floor of $500k a year."

Dec. 20, 2019 - Within two hours, James Spears responds to Robin Greenhill's request with the message, "Approved."

**Didnt Lutfi's letter to Lynn happen in 2019 as well? EDIT: Lutfi's letter to Lynne was in May 2019

https://theblast.com/c/britney-spears-sam-lutfi-restraining-order-conservatorship/

Lutfi was hot on everyone's lips in April of 2019...The Blast pulled the transcript from a court document for the RO, which placed Lutfi's phone call and/or texts as happening on April 29th.

Key Dates:

Apr. 23, 2019 - Britney's Instagram account posts content that does not match a caption that reads: “These fake emails everywhere were crafted by Sam Lutfi years ago. . .I did not write them. He was pretending to be me and communicating with my team with a fake email address.” 

Apr. 25, 2019 - Britney completes her stay at a mental health facility.

Apr. 29, 2019 - Sam Lutfi sends Lynne Spears a long message and $1,000, asking her to lawyer up and fight for control of the conservatorship. He tells her the "b gram girls would like to speak to you as well."

May 6, 2019 - Lynne Spears files to retain Louisiana attorney Gladstone N. Jones III and to become an interested party in Britney's conservatorship.

May 8, 2019 - A five-year restraining order is issued against Sam Lutfi, ordering him to stay away from Britney Spears, her parents, and two children.

May 8, 2019 - Lynne Spears' request to retain legal counsel is fast-tracked and approved by the probate court in time for an upcoming May 10th hearing.

[Steel Magnolia]

Wouldn't it be...Interesting...If the paralegal turned out to be...

Sam Lutfi?

[RebellionSparkles]

1 minute ago, Steel Magnolia said:

Wouldn't it be...Interesting...If the paralegal turned out to be...

Sam Lutfi?

haha...isnt it established that the paralegal was Cade? Didnt LFB say that?

[Steel Magnolia]

2 minutes ago, RebellionSparkles said:

haha...isnt it established that the paralegal was Cade? Didnt LFB say that?

There was an entire thread dedicated to it, but I'm not sure if it was ever verified.

The guy's voice sounded the exact same as an editor for US Weekly (or a similar outlet).

Whoever it was, the "not taking her medication" line was an allegation that came from Larry and James' team...So it likely was someone who worked for the CON, after all.

[TimeLoveJoySpaceKnee]

1 hour ago, RebellionSparkles said:

I worked 10 feet away from one of the top financial analysts covering the Caesar's bankruptcy and Planet Hollywood deal--Britney's Vegas residency was a focal point. I hope there is another timeline in the universe where I didnt stop stanning Britney cirque FF and the information of the CON became public knowledge much earlier.

Holy crap! I just posted about that research in the missing documents thread. All very fascinating even though I'm financially illiterate. Huge props to the work you do!

 

[RebellionSparkles]

1 minute ago, TimeLoveJoySpaceKnee said:

Holy crap! I just posted about that research in the missing documents thread. All very fascinating even though I'm financially illiterate

 

haha...not coincidence, direct causation. I saw your post and read though the bankruptcy doc which made me realize I had been sitting 10 feet away from one of the analysts quoted...but me and him had very different coverage so i didnt know this at the time.

 

[Oprah Winfrey.]

Thank you for this thread, even though I barely understand what’s being spoken about lol

[Anticonformity]

 

[Ghoulia]

I wasn't sure where to add this - kind of related to Con accounting?  It's not NOT related, if you know what I mean 😅

 

I was on a quest to figure out how Larry Rudolph actually met Britney.  All over the Exhale/ the internet, the same line is repeated.  He's a "friend of the family". Or something like that.  

Exhalers say:

Spoiler

 

 

Wikipedia says "her mother asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...Baby_One_More_Time_(album)

 

--> but the original source of this material does NOT say Larry and Lynne are "family friends", it says Lynne called Larry a few times between 1995-1997 and made friendly chit chat before bringing up the big question of "Is it time [to launch Britney's career]?"  https://www.google.com/books/edition/Buzzmarketing/0o1x0gumuBMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=lynne

Larry says:

Spoiler

1) https://lasvegassun.com/blogs/kats-report/2016/feb/19/britney-spears-larry-rudolph-relationship-spins-on/ 

“I don’t know if you really ‘discover’ a human being unless you’re talking about being at the hospital when she was born,” Rudolph said with a laugh. “But I have known her since she was 13 years old, and she’d been off ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’ for about a year, which I had not seen. But she brought in a VHS tape and played me some stuff of her, and it was just amazing.”

2) https://lawnews.hofstra.edu/2016/05/18/larry-rudolph-88-reign-maker-for-britney-spears-and-miley-cyrus/ 

Rudolph was introduced to Britney Spears, then 13, in 1995.  “When I met Britney, I’d never seen her on The Mickey Mouse Club,” says Rudolph. “She came in with a VHS tape and I thought she was an amazing talent but a little young, and at the time pop music wasn’t happening. 

 

Lynne says:

Spoiler

Steven Beer (of Rudolph and Beer) says: https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/steven-beer-entertainment-lawyer

When and how did you meet her?
We met her when she was 14. She had come to New York to get some training and to do some auditions. Someone who wanted to work with her attended a recording agreements class I was teaching and introduced her to my ex-partner and me.

I think "someone who wanted to work with her" was probably the creepy contact in NY Lynne was making reference to in her book.  

Why was that guy a creep?  I don't know.  Was this the same talent scout, William Kahn, who sued Britney in 1999? 

And now, like so many who have come before her, bombarded by legal papers: On Jan. 20, a 43-year-old Philadelphia producer named William Kahn filed a complaint against Spears, her parents (Lynne, 43, a teacher; and Jamie, 46, a contractor), Rudolph, and Jive, claiming it was he who'd launched Britney's career. According to the suit, Spears had come to Kahn shortly after the collapse of the ''Mickey Mouse Club.'' For the brief period he spent as her "exclusive personal manager," Kahn was demanding "a sum in excess of $75,000," as his standard 15 percent commission. On Feb. 12, the suit was settled out of court. Or, rather, "resolved and disposed of," according to Larry Rudolph. "Whether or not there was money involved is a confidential matter." But Spears is still shaken by the wrath of Kahn. "Everything's going so well, then there's, like, a stomper," she says. https://www.angelfire.com/pop/BritsWorld/galleryEW.html

Curiously, the lawsuit is SPEARS VS KAHN. I looked on Pacer and there are no docs available   https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/10732489/spears-v-kahn/. 

Billy Kahn is credited as "talent scout" on some releases of OIDIA.  https://www.discogs.com/release/1965148-Britney-Spears-OopsI-Did-It-Again  His brothers were/are in the music business as well. See Walter G. Kahn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Kahn and Andy Kahn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Kahn. Did Larry think, hey, this talent scout might know what he's talking about - I'd better jump on that? 

So maybe there is some merit to the 1999 lawsuit, but not enough for Billy Kahn to pursue past whatever money Rudolph threw his way.  

So, my takeaway from this is that 1) Larry did not start out as a friend of the family, but a young attorney looking for an opportunity.  2) Larry has been(allegedly) paying people to go away since 1995.  Possibly out of his own pocket at first, like Lou Pearlman...who was eventually imprisoned for a Ponzi scheme.   @RebellionSparkles pointed out the note in the Britney Spears Foundation 990 about Larry's office space being paid for by Britney.  I'm still working on a connection between Bert Padell and Larry, and Stacy Smith and Larry.  We might need an Adam Leber-specific thread soon. 

[Steel Magnolia]

17 hours ago, Ghoulia said:

So, my takeaway from this is that 1) Larry did not start out as a friend of the family, but a young attorney looking for an opportunity.  2) Larry has been(allegedly) paying people to go away since 1995.  Possibly out of his own pocket at first, like Lou Pearlman...who was eventually imprisoned for a Ponzi scheme.   @RebellionSparkles pointed out the note in the Britney Spears Foundation 990 about Larry's office space being paid for by Britney.  I'm still working on a connection between Bert Padell and Larry, and Stacy Smith and Larry.  We might need an Adam Leber-specific thread soon. 

I've added all of this into the Chronological Timeline...Because you're right. This is a pattern!

It reminds me of One Call being added as an opening act for the Circus tour.

Their manager?

Johnny Wright.

[Ghoulia]

Since it was announced by TMZ that Britney is moving, I was a little curious about her current/about to be former home. The home on White Stallion road was purchased 10/9/2015. Two years later, it looks like a loan was taken out against the house.

 @RebellionSparkles please help me understand the money language in this doc:

Is this Jamie & Andrew Wallet taking out a one million dollar loan in May of 2017 using Britney's home as collateral? 

[RebellionSparkles]

5 hours ago, Ghoulia said:

Since it was announced by TMZ that Britney is moving, I was a little curious about her current/about to be former home. The home on White Stallion road was purchased 10/9/2015. Two years later, it looks like a loan was taken out against the house.

 @RebellionSparkles please help me understand the money language in this doc:

Is this Jamie & Andrew Wallet taking out a one million dollar loan in May of 2017 using Britney's home as collateral? 

Yes…that’s what is happening…insert a million disclosures bc obvs nothing is straightforward with the CONs.

regardless, yes, they are borrowing a million dollars, apparently with either the property or trust as collateral. 

Other major things that stick out to me: this is around the time they did that sketchy commercial lease thing that involved Bridgemore and more likely than not Mr Jamie Lynn Spears with those rando Louisianna mortgages.

Bank of America — “the Bank of America” account is referenced at times in the court filings…but we don’t see BofA in the Public CON accounts…meaning it is either a business account or an account that is OUTSIDE the CON. THIS leads me to believe it is OUTSIDE of the CON, potentially attached to the Love Shack Trust.

[Ghoulia]

8 hours ago, RebellionSparkles said:

Yes…that’s what is happening…insert a million disclosures bc obvs nothing is straightforward with the CONs.

regardless, yes, they are borrowing a million dollars, apparently with either the property or trust as collateral. 

Other major things that stick out to me: this is around the time they did that sketchy commercial lease thing that involved Bridgemore and more likely than not Mr Jamie Lynn Spears with those rando Louisianna mortgages.

Bank of America — “the Bank of America” account is referenced at times in the court filings…but we don’t see BofA in the Public CON accounts…meaning it is either a business account or an account that is OUTSIDE the CON. THIS leads me to believe it is OUTSIDE of the CON, potentially attached to the Love Shack Trust.

Ohh interesting!  I have the rest of the document but each page is a .tif file so I'll have to convert it into a pdf and put it together 

[Ghoulia]

From DECLARATION OF KYLE R. FREENY IN SUPPORT OF BRITNEY SPEARS’S MEMORANDUM IN OPPOSITION TO TRI STAR’S AND ROBIN GREENHILL’S MOTION TO QUASH

February 25, 2008

Lou Taylor - "The trust has assets but the general business matters and the other entities are where the majority of the decision making processes need to happen. One of the suggestions that Andrew had was the trust could pay the bills and that would get us around a great deal of the court submission issues, HOWEVER, when it is a business related deductible expense those need to be paid out of Britney Brands, or Britney Touring. You will EXPOSE the trust if you pay business expenses from the Trust. Any bills that need to be paid from the trust we could prepare and submit on behalf of the cs (conservators) to Ivan. Jamie nor I want Ivan or Bryan in any matter that they are not entitled to by law that includes records."

 

Help me, please. What does this mean? "You will EXPOSE the trust if you pay business expenses from the Trust."

[RebellionSparkles]

 

I HOPE Freeny is using the quotation marks for "accountings" sassily!!!

OMG this BS net cash accounting turned my world upside down. I am soooo hoping these quotation marks are sassy.

 

[RebellionSparkles]

51 minutes ago, Ghoulia said:

Help me, please. What does this mean? "You will EXPOSE the trust if you pay business expenses from the Trust."

remember this from WEG...a check with the SJB Trust name on it (AKA paid directly from SJB). What the jeryls are saying is if you use checks directly from SJB (like this payment to WEG), you will have to report all transactions of the SJB Trust to the court (AKA expose the trust). Based on the wording in the email, my guess is the Jeryls are saying "stop sending checks from SJB," you need to route the money through a business checking account first...i Wonder if this is related to the $30k fees they forgave in 2008/2009

This distinction in reality is only cosmetic. The checks that they use to pay expenses has to say "Britney Brands" or "Britney Touring"...SJB could be the ultimate source of the funds, but the money would have to be moved to a separate checking account first that bares the name of the business. This explains why there are so many non ATM transaction fees from City National in the "accountings"

[Ghoulia]

1 minute ago, RebellionSparkles said:

remember this from WEG...a check with the SJB Trust name on it (AKA paid directly from SJB). What the jeryls are saying is if you use checks directly from SJB (like this payment to WEG), you will have to report all transactions of the SJB Trust to the court (AKA expose the trust). Based on the wording in the email, my guess is the Jeryls are saying "stop sending checks from SJB," you need to route the money through a business checking account first...i Wonder if this is related to the $30k fees they forgave in 2008/2009

This distinction in reality is only cosmetic. The checks that they use to pay expenses has to say "Britney Brands" or "Britney Touring"...SJB could be the ultimate source of the funds, but the money would have to be moved to a separate checking account first that bares the name of the business. This explains why there are so many non ATM transaction fees from City National in the "accountings"

Ohhhhhh, thank you. That makes so much sense.  

[blackingouthenegativity]

Hi all, I know this isn't related to Con accounting, but this February 25, 2008 article from The New York Times apparently spoke to one of her financial advisors and estimated her net worth to be $50 million at the time. The article says she was earning $730,000 a month and received a $4 million advance for Blackout.

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/business/media/25britney.html

There's also some other good financial information about her real estate she sold right before the Con as well.

I figure it's good to note when trying to put the pieces together on how much they stole from her. We should also work to dispel the notion that her finances were in "shambles." This same article does claim her staff was paying for basic necessities, but if I had to take a guess, I would say that is due to the lack of trust she had in people - NOT because she didn't have any money at the time. 

 

 

[Steel Magnolia]

1 hour ago, blackingouthenegativity said:

This same article does claim her staff was paying for basic necessities, but if I had to take a guess, I would say that is due to the lack of trust she had in people - NOT because she didn't have any money at the time. 

“Members of Britney’s household,” it said, “have been paying for her basic necessities, including medicine, food, and other day-to-day needs.”

This is likely because her credit card often didn't work.

This appears to be a running theme from the time she split with Kevin until they put her in the CON:

• Sean Phillips claimed her credit card didn't work in early 2007.
• Witnesses claimed her credit card didn't work between her first and second rehab stays.
• Lynne's Spears declaration claimed her credit card didn't work on the night of Jan. 28, 2008.

Sean claimed Britney's black Amex card belonged to her "management."